Cold Northern Waters
by Rainy Meadows
Summary: A woman comes to the 99 Caverns in search of help. She receives it, but not from the person she had hoped for, and even then there's a good chance that both of them are now in way over their heads. Cover art by CyanSparks.
1. Evil Woman

The room didn't fall silent when she entered. Had she bothered to notice, she would probably have found it a little disappointing, and simply made do with the curious and often somewhat hungry stares that followed her to the bar.

As it was, she was a little distracted right now, and upon reaching the bar she seized the collar of the toughest looking person she could find and wrenched him round to look her in the face.

"I'm lookin' for a fella," she snarled. "Name of Shane. You know of anyone called that?"

The man gave her a sneering smile filled with yellow teeth and stinking breath.

"How about I buy you a drink first, sweet thing?" he asked.

"Let me rephrase that."

She threw him to the ground, wrenched her blaster from straps on her back and fired into the air. An immense tongue of flame flared out and scorched the ceiling, leaving a large and ugly black stain and a stench of burnt plaster, before it collapsed in on itself and an orangish-red slug landed on her shoulder and snarled at the now terrified patrons.

"Tell me where I can find the Shane lad," she growled, slotting a fresh canister into her blaster, "or I'll burn all your bloody brains out."

* * *

However, contrary to the above entrance, heads were definitely immediately turned by the arrival of a quintet of wheel-driven mechas as they rumbled into town, and not just because it had been a while since any of them had come to visit (and for one, it was his first time there).

They skidded to a halt upon reaching the familiar building.

"Oh great," Eli said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "This place again?"

"Yep," Pronto said obliviously, "this was the location of the distress call! I shall accept my thanks in the form of monetary donations or a box of chocolates. No heart shapes please."

"But isn't this the place we first met the Unbeatable Master?" Kord pointed out. "Looks like they ain't having a whole lot of luck when it comes to customers."

"Do I want to know?" Junjie asked quietly.

"No," Trixie replied. "Odds are you _really_ don't."

Eli dismounted and rested his now-removed helmet on the handlebars of his mecha.

"In any case," he said, holding up a canister for Burpy to jump into, "if there really is a brawl in there, somebody's going to have to deal with it."

Burpy squeaked in approval and was slotted into the blaster, and Eli approached the entrance with his finger on the trigger.

He quickly had to step out of the way as a former patron was thrown out of the building, scrambled to her feet and ran away whimpering in terror.

Eli spent several seconds watching after her. Judging by the fact that only one mechabeast - this one shaped like a unicorn, oddly enough - was parked outside, there were either very few people left in there or just one. And with how frightened that other woman had been, they were most likely rather tough.

"If..." he said slowly, "...if I'm not out in five minutes..."

The rest of the group gave him a semi-cheerful thumb's up, Junjie more hesitantly than the rest.

After taking a deep, not-very-effective-at-calming breath, Eli walked forward, entered the building and prepared to fire.

He was met with a scene of chaos. Tables, chairs and stools alike were overthrown and if not smoking or smouldering then at least singed. The mirror behind the bar and a majority of the bottles there were smashed beyond repair and the walls were scorched almost completely black.

A dark-haired woman stood at the still-smoking bar, sipping from a glass of golden-brown liquid, her face obscured by the broken glass of the mirror she was facing. Eli made sure that if he was to fire, he wouldn't miss.

"What's your business here, miss?" he demanded, knowing for sure now that she was _not_ the Unbeatable Master. "Who are you?"

"Not now, lad," she said in an oddly accented voice. "I'm waiting for the Shane."

Eli found himself thankful for his Surface upbringing, because otherwise he would never have been able to identify her accent as Scottish. She sounded almost like the fish-people pirates he didn't have very fond memories of.

"Hate to disappoint you," he said sternly, "but I'm already here."

She turned to face him with an expression of shock, and Eli was struck by how young she was. He didn't know what he had expected, but she couldn't have been more than twenty. Twenty-one at most. Her look seemed to be a bizarre combination of goth and what seemed like 20s flapper. Lots of red and black and bits of blue and purple, and a likely excess of facial piercings (the nose stud made sense, but did she really need three rings in one eyebrow?).

"What?" she exclaimed, her blue eyes widening in shock upon catching sight of him. "You? Are you having me on?!"

"No," Eli said, feeling annoyed, "I'm not."

"But you can't be!" she giggled.

"Why?" asked Eli. "Because I'm too skinny?"

"No," said the woman as she failed to stifle her chuckles, "because your voice ain't broken yet!"

Eli made sure to appear as unimpressed as possible as she laughed.

"Look," he said as her chuckles began to die down, "it's obvious you're the one who's responsible for all of..." he gestured to the ruined room, " _this_ , so if you don't explain yourself, I'll be forced to open fire."

Burpy smiled fiercely in his canister.

"You can't be the Shane," she said, although it sounded more like 'canny' than 'can't'. "I've heard about the Shane. He's a big bloke, tough, muscly. Me mam told me all kinds of stories about..."

She trailed off, staring at Eli, who raised an eyebrow as if to say 'what did you expect?'

" _Oh_ ," she said, comprehension dawning on her. "So you'd be his young lad then. Retired, has he? Or did he peg it?"

"Will Shane isn't here," Eli said before this could go any further. "I'm his son. I'm Eli Shane. Now for the last time; tell me why you did this!"

"If you really are the Shane," the woman said with a cocky smile dancing around her purple glossed lips, "then how about this? I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

"Show you what?!" Eli asked angrily. "What would I have to-"

As he spoke, she picked up a slug from behind her on the bar, and he fell silent when she held it forward and revealed that it was almost identical to the one he had in his own blaster. The main difference, besides the more reddish hue of its body, was that it lacked the Megamorph markings that Burpy bore on his protoform, and instead wore the single most infuriated scowl the teen had ever seen on a slug.

"This is Fury," the woman said proudly. "Living relic of me mam. Meaningful name, as you can plainly see by his cute little face. If you're really the Shane, you'll have one of your own, won't you? Ain't that the rule? One Infurnus per realm, always owned by the guardian? That's what me mam told me."

She stepped to one side, allowing Eli to see a navy blue and purple plated blaster lying on the bar, inactive and unloaded, and she gestured to it as if presenting it as a prize on a quiz show.

"I ain't going to shoot at you, see?" she said. "I ain't even armed. Come on. We ain't got all day, you know."

Though he was still apprehensive, Eli emptied his blaster onto his hand and held up Burpy for her to see. The little Infurnus squeaked in surprise at the sight of another of his species, but jumped in fright as Fury bared his teeth and hissed.

"It's okay, Burpy," Eli said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. "I won't let either of them hurt you."

"Hurt him?" asked the woman. "What sort of nutjob lass d'you think I am?"

"One who starts ridiculously destructive tavern brawls?" Eli replied.

"I had to get your attention somehow," the woman said calmly as Fury leapt onto her shoulder. "Me mam told me how the Shanes are always looking out for trouble to sort out, so I figured the bigger mess I made, the more likely it was that you'd come and try to stop me!"

Her pleasant little smirk was far too innocent-looking for someone boasting about violence, but the fact that she hadn't tried to shoot Eli yet seemed something to be thankful for. If she really was the culprit, it would probably be best not to tick her off. The furniture was still smoking, after all.

She picked up the blaster from the bar and holstered it on her back.

"Are you actually planning on telling me your name any time soon?" asked Eli. "Or telling me what you wanted me for?"

"Me name's Perry," the woman said proudly. "Perry McLinden. And I need your help."

* * *

After one final tug, Kord took his wrench away from Junjie's mecha.

"There you go, bro," he said. "Suspension just needed a bit of tightening is all. No wonder you were finding it bumpy."

"Thank you," Junjie said politely. "I'll try to remember this in the future."

"Yes, yes," Pronto said impatiently. "We are all very pleased that Junjie's ride has been maintained to a substantial degree, but is no-one else smelling smoke coming from in there?"

"I'd think we'd know if it was Eli who was burning," Trixie pointed out. "It's probably smelled like that since before we arrived."

"Indeed," said Pronto, and sniffed the air, "but still..."

To the bemusement of the rest of the gang, he crouched down on the ground and started sniffing at the earth.

"I am picking up scents of... scorched timber," he reported, "and plaster, and..."

He froze.

"Sarsaparilla," he gasped. "They burned the sarsaparilla!"

He leapt up and made to dive into the building.

"No!" Trixie cried as she snatched up the back of his shirt. "It's too late!"

"Dude, just leave it!" Kord added as he tried to wrench the molenoid back by the shoulders.

"But they can't!" Pronto sounded on the edge of tears.

"These are the people I have thrown my lot in with..." Junjie muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear, and he rubbed at his forehead.

When silence suddenly fell, he looked up.

A young woman had emerged from the tavern and was staring at the group in bafflement.

"So, uh," she said awkwardly, "is this, like, a private party or can any old person jump in? 'Coz there's still a bit of booze left unburnt in there if you lot want at it."

She pointed over one shoulder at the building.

"I assume you are the one responsible for the destruction," Junjie said as he stepped forward and the rest righted themselves. "I don't even want to know how much damage you have caused."

"What can I say?" the woman said with a shrug. "I always have been a bit of a fiery redhead."

She smirked proudly at the quartet.

"Has she not noticed that her hair is black?" Pronto whispered hoarsely to Kord.

"Not just black!" the woman said, and pointed at where the strands curled up on her right cheek. "There's bits of blue and purple too, see? 'Sides, I am a natural redhead. Check out me eyebrows!"

"It's okay, guys," Eli said as he exited the building. "She's safe."

"Oh yeah, _she's_ clearly safe," Trixie said sarcastically, "but you know, I'm not 100% sure about us."

"It's okay, I don't bite," said the woman. "Not unless you want me to. Name's Perry, by the way, Perry McLinden, thanks for asking."

"Okay, _Perry McLinden_ ," Pronto said emphatically, and prodded her in the leg to further convey his anger. "Mayhaps you could tell us why you felt a need to blow up this wonderful establishment?"

"I didn't blow it up!" Perry argued, though it sounded more like she said 'didney'. "Fury tends to get over-excited when we go somewhere new. And besides, it weren't wonderful. It reeked in there. Somewhere like that is made to get wrecked."

"Wait a minute," Kord spoke up. "Your name's McLinden? Are you related to Lizzy McLinden? The woman who watches over the Northern realms?"

Perry cocked her head in curiosity.

"Knew about me mam, did you?" she asked.

"She's your mom?!" Kord exclaimed excitedly.

"You're _that_ Perry McLinden?!" cried Trixie.

"I feel as if I'm missing something," Junjie muttered to Eli.

"You aren't alone," Eli replied.

"It's almost hard to believe the McLindens are still operating," said Kord. "I mean, it's been so _long_. How is ol' Lizzy? Nobody's heard anything about her for years."

"Well, it's hard to stay in the public eye," said Perry, "if you're dead."

"Oh..." Kord said quietly, and he and Trixie visibly deflated.

"Aye," Perry said simply.

"Yes, yes," Pronto said impatiently, "we are all very sad to hear about Ms Lizzy's passing, but is there any chance we could get to the point?"

"Thanks, Pronto," Eli said.

"I aim to please," Pronto responded with a smug smile.

"So then, Perry," said Eli, and he crossed his arms to convey his anger and impatience. "If Kord and Trixie are right and you really do have your own realm to defend, why did you decide to come and bust up a bar in the 99 Caverns?"

"I already said, didn't I?" asked Perry. "I wanted the Shane to come running 'coz I need your help!"

"You have a strange way of showing it," said Junjie.

Perry gave him an incensed glare.

"Now look," she said. "I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big tough independent Highland lass who don't need no bloke coming to save her gorgeous hindquarters, but I ain't stupid and I know when I'm in over my head. Some weirdos have shown up in me realm and I know they're weirdos because they're doing something to the slugs. Something nasty."

"Oh boy," said Kord. "They wouldn't happen to be making the slugs dark coloured and super aggressive, would they?"

Perry nodded.

"Ghouls," said Trixie. "Of course it's ghouls again."

"But we stopped Dr Blakk," Eli pointed out. "And the Elementals are perfectly fine, aren't they? So unless someone was trying to pick up where he left off..."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen any strangers with short blond hair, a vest and an extremely bad attitude, would you?" asked Pronto. "Because if he tries to kill you, you tell him just how rude that is!"

"No blond blokes," said Perry, "and if there were, I'd've found out about it. No, it's a bunch of brunettes. Four of 'em, I've heard. Setting up factory things where they do horrible things to slugs. And they've all got this weird symbol on them that looks kinda like a bright red V. Eldritch looking thing."

Eli sighed in exasperation and pinched his brow.

"Blakk's ex-employees," he muttered. "Should've known someone would try to keep his business going."

"And whatever it is those scuggans are doing to the slugs," Perry continued, "it's hurting my home. Plants are dying and people are getting sick. I have plenty of friends in my realm, but not all of them are tough enough to help me take them down. I need someone who's experienced. Someone who's had proper training, like me. I'm not asking for someone like me mam - I doubt anyone could be that epic - but I'd like someone at least on the same level as me."

She glared at the group with determination glittering in her vivid blue eyes.

Eli looked around at them too, trying to gauge their reactions. Kord and Trixie looked both confused and concerned, Pronto was mostly confused and Junjie appeared rather apprehensive. Personally, Eli knew that he couldn't just refuse this woman's request to her face, especially since she was clearly being honest about her troubles, but at the same time, things were troublesome enough in this realm as they were. It was likely that leaving to deal with the affairs of a set of caverns that weren't his own wouldn't work out very well in the long run.

This wasn't going to be easy...

"I'm sorry," he said, "but we can't help you."

" _What?!_ " Perry shouted angrily.

"I want to," Eli added quickly. "Believe me, I do! I mean, it's obvious you really need help, but I've got my own realm to take care of and I can't afford to just up and leave it. Not when we've finally got things peaceful. Plus if these really are Blakk loyalists, there's a chance there could be some left here as well as in your place."

Perry's gloved fists clenched and her teeth were gritted in rage.

"I can't help," Eli repeated. "I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Fine," she hissed.

She pushed through the group and strode over to the unicorn mecha, swinging her clenched fists hard enough to blacken an eye, before she mounted it and galloped down the road and out of sight.

"That... could've gone a lot worse," Trixie said optimistically.

"And I think you will agree that it could have gone far better," Pronto said pessimistically.

"Never actually met a McLinden before," said Kord. "I don't know what I expected, but I don't think it was for her to be so... I dunno, angry."

"I meant what I said to her," said Eli. "If Blakk loyalists are ghouling slugs again, that means we're going to have to be on our guard. Hopefully we won't reach Darkbane invasion level, but you guys should understand that she was right and this is happening, the 99 Caverns need their Shane. I want to help her, but I can't afford to go."

"But I can."

All eyes fell upon the newest addition to the gang.

"The 99 Caverns need their Shane," Junjie echoed, "and I won't say or do anything to deny that, but you were caring for this realm long before I entered it, and dare I say, you have done a more than decent job of it. And while I am skilled enough to do the same, I no longer have a realm of my own to defend. Not anymore."

His gaze wandered to the direction Perry had left in.

"That woman is in need of aid," he stated, "and if I am available to provide it, I fail to see why I should withhold my skill from where it is needed."

He looked back to the group.

"Besides," he said, "I don't want to be burdening you all for the rest of my life."

He turned to his Infurnus.

"What about you, Joo-Joo?" he asked. "Would you like to visit another realm?"

Joo-Joo nodded with a face of determination.

"You aren't burdening us, bro," said Kord with a face reflecting slight sadness.

"Well, he _is_ another mouth to feed," Pronto pointed out.

"Are you sure about this, Junjie?" asked Trixie. "You don't know what you might find in the North. From what she said, it sounds like it's pretty dangerous."

"I would never have brought up the subject if I was uncertain," said Junjie. "She wanted a Shane, or at least a person of equivalent skill. I possess that skill and I would be remisce if I refused to put it to use."

A quiet pause followed as Eli and Burpy shared a glance.

"I'm a bit new to this whole Northern realms thing," said Eli, "but Junjie, if you want to go and help her, I won't stop you. Just as long as you come back once you're sure everything's safe."

Junjie placed a hand over his heart.

"I will," he said, and bowed. "I promise."

"Then you'd better hurry," Kord suggested, "'coz I don't think she was planning on slowing down anytime soon."

With a nod, the fur-clad fighter mounted his mecha and donned his helmet.

"I will return," he promised.

He revved up his engine and galloped away in the direction Perry had taken, and it wasn't long before he activated wheel mode and the high-pitched rumbling of his engine faded into the distance.

"It's going to be weird without him around," said Eli. "I'd just gotten used to him."

"He said he'll be back," Trixie reminded him. "He seems to be pretty good at keeping promises."

Eli smiled.

"So tell me," he said, "what exactly is this Northern realm?"

* * *

Junjie could feel his teeth gritting as he sped down the track, hoping he was driving in the right direction. For all he knew there could be a side road he had missed and he was even further from the McLinden woman than he had been when he'd first set out. To return now after such a departure would feel extremely humiliating.

But then he saw her, galloping up ahead, revving her engine every now and then for extra speed. Junjie pressed further forward in effort to catch up.

'She's certainly hot-blooded,' he found himself thinking as he drew closer. 'I hope this won't be a decision I come to regret.'

It wasn't long before he was driving alongside her, but she was focused intently on the road ahead and hadn't noticed his approach.

"Ms McLinden!" He had to shout to be audible over the roar of his engine.

She glanced quickly to the side and didn't appear to see him until she looked again, and her eyes widened in alarm. Junjie didn't change his expression, but she did: she scowled and turned back to her path, obviously deliberately ignoring him.

Junjie, however, was faster. He accelerated until he was quite a distance ahead of her and then slammed onto the brakes, skidding to a halt and blocking the road, and she hit her brakes equally as hard and came to a rest mere feet from where he had stopped and switched out of wheel mode.

"Crivens, what's your damage, you scunner?!" she demanded. "I almost ran you down!"

"I want to help you," said Junjie.

Perry's scowl turned from rage to bafflement.

"You what?" she said, and dismounted.

"I don't know if you had noticed," said Junjie, and he too dismounted and removed his helmet, "but I am not from the Western region. My true home lies far to the east of the 99 Caverns."

"Oh, you're an Eastern bloke, are you?" said Perry. "Mam had some dealings with your folks back in the day. Said your lot were stoic, but decent enough. But she told me that place was pretty much annihilated."

Junjie said nothing.

It wasn't long before comprehension dawned on her.

"Oh," she said. "Oh, I see. Right."

"My home is no longer welcoming," said Junjie, "and since it is no longer my realm to protect, it simply would neither make sense nor feel right to ignore your request in what is obviously a time of need. I may not be a Shane, but that does not mean I don't have the abilities of one. For that reason, I am offering you my skills, to put to use in any manner you desire."

He bowed to her, hoping to convey it as a symbol of loyalty, and when he straightened up he saw that she was staring at him, tapping her purple lips and clearly deep in thought.

"How am I supposed to know this ain't a bunch of rotten old haggis?" she asked.

"It's simple," said Junjie. "You cannot. The most that you can do is trust me."

Perry pursed her lips. She was obviously still thinking. Eventually, she sighed.

"Fair enough," she said. "If you really are as good as you say you are, I'll look forward to seeing you prove it. Just understand that if you really are just spinning yarns, I'll send you back home in a briefcase."

"Trust me," said Junjie, who couldn't avoid faintly smiling at the bizarre threat, "it shall not ever come to that."

Perry looked him up and down.

"We'll see," she said.

She climbed back onto her mecha, and Junjie did the same with his own, and together they started moving down the road once more.

* * *

"Athos?"

She looked round from the window at her younger sister.

"What is it, Porthos?" she asked.

"I've just received a report from Aramis," said Porthos. "Construction of the third drill is complete and we're waiting for the order for activation."

Athos smiled to herself.

"Very well," she said. "Tell Aramis she should go out and bring us some more slugs to work on. D'Artagnan is capable of activating the drills alone, after all. Silly little thing should be able to push a button at least."

Porthos gave a salute with her withered hand and departed from the room, and Athos returned to watching out the window.

"This world is going to be ours," she muttered to herself. "I'll make sure of that."


	2. Relax (Take It Easy)

"So then," Junjie said, able to speak normally thanks to the lower pitch of his mecha's motor, "if we truly are going to be fighting together, it would make sense for me know a little more about you."

"Oh aye?" Perry responded. "And what about you then, lad? You ain't even told me your name yet!"

"I haven't?" asked Junjie. "Apologies, it must have slipped my mind. My name is Junjie, though it isn't spelt how you likely think it is from how it sounds."

"Junjie," Perry repeated. "Nice name, that. Suits you."

Baffled, Junjie couldn't avoid glancing at her, and she smiled at him proudly.

"I won't go to the trouble of asking your name," he said, then turned back to the road, "considering you already gave an introduction back at the tavern."

"Aye, I know," said Perry, "and so long as you call me Perry and not Periwinkle, we'll get along famously."

"Periwinkle?"

"I said don't!"

She too looked back to the beaten track, frowning and angry and gripping her mecha's handles tighter than was necessary. Junjie sensed that the best thing to do would be to give her a few moment's silence.

It wasn't long before she sighed, rather over-dramatically in his opinion.

"Look," she said, "if you must know, me full name's Periwinkle Georgina McLinden. It weren't my fault and people have called me Perry for as long as I can remember. It's just easier to deal with than stupid Periwinkle."

"Fair enough," Junjie decided.

"Anyway," Perry said, "moving on, if you're really an Eastern fella, how in the world did you end up with Sporty, Baby, Posh and Ginger back there?"

"You mean the Shane Gang?" asked Junjie. "That's... it's a bit of a long story. Not the sort of tale one would share with an acquaintance."

"Got it," Perry said with a nod.

"Though may I ask," said Junjie, "for a degree of expansion on yourself? From what little I could understand of Kord and Trixie's discussions, you seem to be some other version of the Shane, simply guarding a separate realm from Eli's family."

"I'm nothing like that wee bairn!" Perry objected. "For one, I'm at least three inches taller, and I'm also a cavern's worth more gorgeous than he could ever hope to be. Plus I don't know how long he's been in the business, but I've been training for it since I were six! And I'm the sixteenth in me family to be doing this job, so-"

"Sixteenth?" asked Junjie. "Exactly how long has the McLinden family protected the North?"

Again, Perry pursed her purple lips in thought.

"Well," she said, "if you go all the way back to Mary McLinden and you count her and her daughter, I'd say we've been large and in charge for upwards of four hundred years now."

Junjie had to force himself to keep his eyes focused ahead and not stare at her in amazement.

"You..." he said slowly, trying to find something to add. "...you must have a lot of relatives."

"Nope, it's just me," Perry replied. "The title gets passed down mother to daughter and all the McLinden ladies only ever have one daughter. Me mam only had me, and her mam only had her and so on. It's just our thing. Though from the way you talk, it makes it sound like this is all news to you."

"It is a little strange," Junjie admitted, "for a family to have sixteen consecutive single-member generations."

Perry cast him a look of annoyance.

"Personally," Junjie said, "I have an unfortunately low number of memories of my life in my homeland. Considering all that happened, I am not entirely sure whether regaining those memories would be a very good idea. This I do know and am glad to know: I have wielded Joo-Joo since at least the age of five, and at some point after that, I mastered the art of Slug Fu."

"Slug who-what?"

"It would take a long time to explain. And right now..."

They came to a halt as they arrived at their destination.

"...we need to focus our attention on the path ahead."

And the path ahead, after a thin and jagged coastline of water-worn rocks, was a vast sea of bluish-green water that stretched out far further than their eyes could see. Soft little waves lapped at the rocks and babbled gently between them, brushing against limpits and barnacles and other clinging creatures that had made this sorry excuse for a beach their home.

"The Cavern Sea," said Perry. "Only a terrifyingly giant stretch of water between us and my lovely home."

"So long as we stay focused and on course," Junjie said, "and aren't attacked by pirates, nothing will go wrong. Provided that our rides can handle the journey."

Perry opened a compartment in her mecha's head and pulled out something small and round, and as he leaned in for a closer look, Junjie caught sight of a thin, bi-coloured needle.

"We're still on the right track," she said. "When I get back home, I'm definitely thanking Benny for this compass."

She looked up at the sea.

"I'm really hoping we can stay on track," she said, mostly to herself. "This sea ain't exactly small. I swear, if something shows up-"

"We should be fine," Junjie reinforced, concerned as to why she should suddenly seem so worried. "Let's move."

He pressed a button on his mecha's dashboard and the vehicle jumped forward, morphing as it did into the jetski mode he'd fortunately had fitted several weeks ago. After a moment of hesitation, Perry did the same: the legs of her mecha folded forward and expanded, meaning hers was somewhat lower down and more spread out than Junjie's.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Nope," Perry responded despite her cheerful smile.

Sincerely hoping that she was joking, Junjie looked back to the waters ahead and the pair sped forward across the surface of the sea, bouncing every now and then as they crested over waves.

When the Eastern slinger looked to Perry, however, she appeared nervous, glancing down at the water every now and then and otherwise doing her best to ignore it.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "You seem apprehensive."

"It's nothing," Perry replied. "I managed to make me way to the West alright, so I should be fine making me way back."

"You aren't afraid of the water?" Junjie enquired. "You seem to be glancing at it rather a lot."

"I'm fine!" Perry snapped.

Very well. The subject wasn't to be pursued. That much was abundantly clear.

While he was driving, Junjie took an opportunity to properly take in what she looked like. Her hair was black, with stripes of blue and purple at the front on the right, and cut into a short bob that was curled up on her cheeks so that the tips pointed up at her eyes. The eyebrow he could see from this side was orange and had three rings on its outer edge, and the stud in her nostril was shiny and red, like a ruby. Her lips were glossed and the same shade of purple as her eyeshadow, which sat above heavy black eyeliner and obvious mascara.

"We're lucky the sea's good and calm," she commented. "It weren't too nice on the way here, I can tell you that much."

Her jacket was purple, sleeveless and midriff baring, which raised some questions about its purpose. It was lined with silver around the edges and fur of the same colour around the neckline, and he could see straps on its back which held her blaster. With how it was situated, she could easily draw it when pretending to surrender. Interesting concept.

"I must confess," Junjie said, "I haven't seen much of the Cavern Sea, let alone ridden upon it."

"Oh aye?" said Perry. "Well, first time for everything!"

Her dress was a rich red, also sleeveless, figure hugging and looked to be quite stretchy, and it reached down past her hips. She wore two belts - one blue, one purple - which crossed one-another over at the front with the purple one holding her canisters. Her pants were black, also stretchy and clinging, and reached into her boots, which were blue with purple straps and soles and black clasps.

"I was serious about those pirates," Junjie said. "Eli has told me about some unfortunate encounters he had with a crew that hounded him on multiple occasions."

"If they do show up, I know how to handle meself in a fight," Perry boasted. "So in the end, it's likely they'd be the ones getting robbed!"

"I don't think they would like that."

"Aye, so it sucks to be them!"

Her otherwise blue gloves had black cuffs around the wrists and where they reached her armpits, and these cuffs had other bands in their centres; purple on her wrists, red on those at the top. She was, Junjie considered, simultaneously one of the most colourful and most odd-looking people he had ever so much as caught a glimpse of, let alone traveled to another realm with. Even her mecha, built to resemble a unicorn and plated in silver, purple and black, looked rather ridiculous.

Added to that, the sight of the water was making her nervous despite her best attempts to hide it, but the prospect of retaliating to a fight seemed somehow enjoyable.

What in the world _was_ this woman?

Before he could travel very far on this train of thought, his attention was caught by what was unmistakably the firing of a blaster.

"Perry!" he shouted. "Watch yourself!"

Thankfully she noticed in time, and she ducked as something black and red and angry all over sailed over her head.

"Crivens!" she swore, or at least Junjie assumed it was a curse. "That bloody thing was bloody shooting at me on the way over!"

Junjie looked up and saw a large cannon positioned on a rocky outcrop, aiming in their direction and preparing to fire again. He couldn't make out anybody operating it, even as it fired and he had to quickly make a hard right and slammed on his brakes to avoid being hit.

"There ain't no-one firing it," Perry informed him. "I rode all the way round that thing on me first way past. That bloody thing's automatic! If I hadn't legged it, it would've nailed me!"

"And it's firing ghouls," Junjie pointed out. "My guess is that Dr Blakk installed it to prevent Eli or those like him leaving to seek help, or to prevent people such as you from coming to the caverns he wished to destroy."

"You what?" said Perry. "What a git!"

She quickly ducked aside to avoid being hit again.

"We need to disable it," Junjie said, "or at least prevent it from reloading itself."

"And how're we going to do that then?" Perry demanded.

"There must be some power source that it's running on," Junjie told her. "If we can find it and disconnect it-"

Then he saw another headed in his direction, and this time had to tip his mecha to one side to avoid it and almost ended up in the drink. When he had righted himself, he saw that the young woman he was accompanying was speeding away towards the turret, and he revved up his engine and followed her.

"The least you could do is wait for me!" he called.

"I don't like messing about!" she replied. "I'm taking this thing out and you can't stop me!"

"I'm not trying to stop you!"

"Eh?!"

"I already said that I want to help you!"

He drew level with her and she looked round at him as if surprised to see he was there, and he nodded with her as a silent way of saying 'I'm with you'.

The look she gave him in return was angry, but determined.

"Right," she said, and she looked ahead.

The turret fired again in their direction and they swerved to avoid being hit, constantly slaloming as they drew closer to the rock.

"I'll draw its fire!" cried Perry. "You go up there and bust that bastard up!"

"Understood," said Junjie.

She steered to the left, intending to circle around the rock, and the cannon followed her path as Junjie pressed forward and reached the rough stony surface. It was difficult to get a grip on the wet rock and the jagged edges were uncomfortable, but somehow he found purchase and pulled his body upwards.

"Hurry it up!" he heard Perry shout. "I'm starting to get dizzy already!"

"I'm doing my best!" he replied.

Climbing up the rock face was no small feat. The rock itself was only about two metres tall, but what it lacked in height it made up for in terrain. Junjie considered himself lucky that Perry seemed to be doing a good job of distracting the turret; while he could probably disable it in a singleshot, it would continue firing at him as he guided his shot to its target. He would be done for.

It would've been a more reasonable situation if there had at least been some way of restoring the slugs in there to their original forms, but Junjie didn't want to take Doc away from where he may have been needed more. Eli had been correct: if there really were Blakk loyalists in the North, there would probably be some left in the 99 Caverns as well.

After what could have been an eternity, though it could easily have been an instant, he finally reached the top of the rock where the turret stood and quickly got behind it so that it wouldn't be able to hit him. The ghouls still inside it growled and snarled in his direction and he tried his best to ignore them: once they were free, they would likely swim back to Eli's realm, where he would be able to find and take care of them. It would be teamwork without the Shane even realising it.

The cannon itself stood on a single metal leg, bolted securely to the rock. Junjie allowed his Infurnus to take a look.

"What do you think, Joo-Joo?" he asked. "Shall you be able to handle it?"

Joo-Joo turned to face him and nodded with pride.

"How're you doing?!" shouted Perry from down below as Junjie held Joo-Joo close to the support.

"We're working on it!" Junjie reported, and as if on cue, Joo-Joo spat out a tongue of super-heated flame that almost instantly started melting the metal. The molten iron (if that was in fact what it was) dribbled down the support like a candle and Junjie had to shuffle backwards so that none of his extremities or clothes would come into contact with it.

Once it was cut halfway through, Junjie withdrew his hand.

"Let's finish it off," he commanded.

Joo-Joo jumped, obedient and excited, into the man's blaster, and Junjie fired him outwards across the water.

Now came the difficult part.

He cleared his mind and concentrated, and almost instantly felt the flood of energy surging through his body. His physical form became a conduit for the magical power inherent to the lands in which he dwelt, connecting him like a strong thread to his most trusted and faithful slug. He knew that Joo-Joo also felt this connection, as when he raised his hands to act as a guide, the Infurnus followed him wherever he was directed, curving back in the direction he had come from and picking up as much speed as he could muster.

Just before the collision, Junjie ducked down and broke the connection, clasping his hands over his head to shield himself from his slug's deliberate crash into the cannon. The force broke the support entirely and sent the gun flying down into the waters.

"WHATTHEFU-" screamed Perry.

There was a very loud splash that quickly followed.

Realising what had happened, Junjie leapt up and hurried to the edge of the rock. He saw Perry's mecha, powerless and drifting on the water, deprived of its driver. Foamy ripples not far from it were quickly fading away. A few slugs appeared, one a familiar reddish-orange, and they leapt onto the mecha and looked down at the water with squeaks and faces of worry.

If Perry was going to resurface, she would have done so by now.

"Oh no..." Junjie muttered.

He quickly pulled off his shinguards and his blasters, and dumped them along with his shoulder pads. bandoleer and fur cape on top of the rock for safe-keeping, and after making sure they wouldn't be ignited by the rapidly cooling metal, he took a deep breath and dived off the rock and into the salty spray.

The cold hit him like a cliffside to the face, but he forced himself to ignore it and opened his eyes. Doing so was uncomfortable, but necessary. He had to see where he was going. He had to see where his companion was if he was ever to help her.

And he caught sight of her further down, her eyes and mouth tightly shut and wildly flailing about, trying and obviously failing to gain altitude. Junjie kicked at the water and pulled himself downwards, struggling against his natural buoyancy to reach her even as she sank further into the depths.

Once he finally reached her, Junjie took hold of one of her wrists and she stopped struggling. She tried to open her eyes, but clearly wasn't used to doing so and only squinted. Not wanting to waste any more time, Junjie wrapped an arm around her chest and started swimming upwards, back in the direction he had come. He felt Perry kicking, trying to help them move upwards even though her boots were probably full of freezing water.

He broke the surface with a deep, shuddering and desperate gasp and snatched at the rock, thankfully finding a good handhold in a relatively short time span. Still hanging in his arm, Perry coughed and struggled to breathe, clinging to his body for dear life.

Junjie looked down at her, hoping his lack of admiration would be obvious.

"You can't swim?" he asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"No I can't!" Perry snapped, and then she coughed some more.

"So that's why you kept glancing at the water," said Junjie, "and why you seemed so apprehensive when we first set out. You knew that if you fell in, you'd never come out. At least not without help."

"Don't you dare go bloody reminding me!" shouted Perry in a croaky voice. "You don't even want to know how pissed I am at meself! I can shoot a candle's flame out at 50 paces and not damage the wick, but I can't swim a single stroke to save my own life! _Literally!_ "

She trailed off and panted. Her fruitless efforts to ascend in the water had exhausted her.

"At least you took care of the cannon," she said. "Right?"

"Yes," Junjie reported. "The slugs that were in it should be fine. Once they get out, they'll swim to where Eli can find them and deal with them."

"And good bloody riddance," muttered Perry.

She closed her eyes. Her panting had decreased in volume quite considerably by now.

"Are you alright?" asked Junjie.

"I'm fine," she replied. "Can you help me get to me ride? I know it's pathetic, but-"

Junjie set out before she could finish. He kicked himself away from the rock, still holding her above the water's surface until they reached her mecha, whereupon he helped her clamber aboard.

"Right," she said. "Get your kit on and we'll set off again."

Sure that she wouldn't fall off again, Junjie swam back to the rock and climbed up, and was met by even more worried slug faces.

"It's alright," he said. "I'm fine. Both of us are fine."

Pulling his armour back on wasn't as easy as taking it off had been, considering how his clothes were now soaking wet and likely saturated with salt. His bangs had flopped down over his forehead and he could feel that the rest of his hair, where it still hung restrained, was heavy with seawater. Still, his furs felt all the more cozy now that their job of insulating heat had become even more necessary.

Once he was fully dressed once more, he descended the rock to where his own mecha was still parked and mounted it. He looked to Perry for commands, but saw that she had slumped forward, her eyes closed, as though she was asleep.

"Are you..." he said awkwardly. "...are you ready?"

"Aye," she responded, and she opened her eyes and sat up straight again. "Let's move on before any other blethers comes our way."

And with that, they sped away from the rock, leaving nothing behind but a smoldering stump of half-melted metal.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time they reached the beach, and it definitely was a beach this time. It wasn't very large - a three-metre wide stretch of sparkling black sand separating the sea from a grassy bank dotted with the occasional tree - but it was still a preferable coastline to the one they had departed.

The pair switched their mechas back to beast mode and walked up onto the beach, navigating by the light of the trees, and once they had reached the grasses, Perry deactivated her engine.

"Hang on," she said, and dismounted. "I... I need a moment."

She sat down on the grass as Junjie also dismounted, and she pulled off her boots (her socks were black with little red skull-and-crossbones patterns) and emptied out a bizarrely large amount of seawater. Then she sighed and fell backwards, lying down on the sloping grass, and Junjie sat down next to her.

This did look like it was a nice place. It was hard to believe that such a rough young woman could come from somewhere like this.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked. "You seem exhausted."

"Aye," she responded. "Just I haven't slept a whole lot lately, what with the whole travelling across the Cavern Sea twice and all. Plus coming dangerously close to drowning can take a lot out of you, you know?"

Junjie couldn't avoid smiling at how casual she could sound whilst talking about a near-death experience. Clearly this land wasn't what it seemed at the moment.

"Thank you," Perry said. "Thanks for coming after me. I honestly expected you just to leave me, to be honest."

"And what sort of person would I be if I allowed you to die?" asked Junjie. "I agreed to help you. I fail to see how that wouldn't extend to preventing you from drowning."

Perry's smile in response was lopsided, likely from exhaustion. It was odd how her make-up still appeared impeccable, but her hair had fallen limp and loose from the time she had spent in the water. It now looked more like a simple chin-length bob than anything else.

Junjie pulled his own hair out of its bun and wrung it out over the grass. It was amazing how much water came out and splattered onto the earth, even though it had been several hours since the two of them had taken a dive.

"So what now?" he asked, and ran his fingers through his locks to try to prevent tangling. "I highly doubt either of us is in any condition to fight at this moment."

"There's a shed not far from here that used to be a slug wrangler hideout," Perry said, and she weakly pointed backwards. "It's been empty for quite some time now. There's food and a shower and everything, though I'm not sure if it'll have hot water anymore. I've been in there a couple of times while away from home. Nobody will mind if we spend the night in there."

After glancing back over his shoulder, looking in the direction she had indicated, Junjie tied his hair back into a ponytail, forgoing his usual bun. Now that he thought about it, he too felt rather tired. What was it about swimming that could drain so much energy from a person?

"Very well," he sighed. "I assume we can begin our operation tomorrow?"

"Aye, that's right," Perry said as she sat up, "though there is someone we're meeting up with first."

"Is there? Who?"

"Slug expert. She'll be helping us with what we're doing. I've known her for a long time, so we can trust her. She'll be waiting for us in the next cavern over. She ain't a fighter, but she and her family are good enough at handling themselves."

She stood up and dragged herself back onto her mecha, and once Junjie had done the same, they started moving again.

He got the feeling this was going to be one of the most trying missions of his life.

* * *

"D'Artagnan?"

The brown haired teen quickly looked up.

"What's the status?" asked their eldest sister. "Have we struck dark water yet?"

"No," d'Artagnan reported. "No, the drill hasn't got that deep yet-"

"And why not?"

"Athos, it's only been active for about six hours! Plus the machinery's really old! It could take days for us to hit even a little reserve-"

"Then increase the drilling speed," Athos said simply. "Surely it'll be able to handle the pressure. I don't want to see you sleeping on the job, d'Artagnan. Not when we're this close."

D'Artagnan bowed their head in shame.

"It's alright," said Athos, and she rubbed her younger sibling's shoulder. "We'll reach our goal soon."

The teen rubbed the hand, grateful for the attempted comfort, but it didn't do much good.

Meanwhile, the drill dug ever further downward.


	3. Don't Stop Me Now

When Junjie awoke, it took him a few moments to remember where he was. He was surprised at first at not being able to see the vivid orange bedcovers he usually slept under, or the pale greyish-blue of the walls he usually faced.

Instead he was met with a large, somewhat dimly-lit room that appeared to be an entire house in one, with the blinds still drawn over both the windows.

He rubbed his forehead. He still felt sore from yesterday.

The woman he was accompanying was nowhere in sight, but he could hear - from what was apparently a very short distance away - splattering of water and faint humming of a tune he hadn't heard before.

He sat up, yawned and stretched his back, wincing a little. His bones weren't what they used to be.

"You up then, mate?"

He froze. She genuinely sounded like she was right next to him.

"Yes," he replied, and he stood up. "Yes, I'm awake."

"Well, you're going to have to wait if you want the shower," said Perry. "I don't know if you can tell, but it's a bit occupied right now."

Junjie had been in the process of looking around the building and it was only as he was turning to his left that he realised what (and who) was there, and he quickly looked away again.

"So I see," he commented. "And there's no way of making it a little more private?"

"There were only s'posed to be about two people here at a time," Perry explained, "and they could stay here for months on end, so there weren't much need for a great deal of privacy."

"Ah," Junjie said simply, unable to distract himself from the fact that a woman was showering mere feet from where he stood. "Could you... you said that this place was a hideout for slug wranglers?"

"Yep!" She squirted something out of a bottle with a bizarre slurping noise.

"Yet you don't explain what a slug wrangler is." He approached one of the windows and tried to untangle the cord on the blinds.

"Well, surely you must know 'bout mail order slugs, right?"

Junjie gave up and just tugged on the cord, and the blinds released a cloud of dust as they slid upwards. Luckily he waved it away before it had a chance to go down his throat or up his nostrils.

"I believe I heard it mentioned at some point," he said, and tried to wipe some dirt off the grimy windows.

"You ever wonder where they come from?" asked Perry.

"The thought hasn't exactly crossed my mind." The dirt appeared to be on the other side of the glass.

"They come from slug wranglers." The water was turned off. "Bunch of lads and lasses and ladsies and what have you who catch slugs so they can be sold on the market. You know I said we're meeting up with someone? Her brother's a slug wrangler. He's down in Symphogna Cavern right now. He sends us the rejects."

Junjie breathed on the glass and it squeaked as he tried to wipe it.

"Rejects?" he said curiously.

"Not all slugs get sold, lad," Perry replied, and there was another squeak - this time of hinges - as she stepped out of the shower. "Most do, but then you get the ones what're mutated or got attacked by something. Ain't you taken an actual look at me arsenal yet?"

His interest piqued, Junjie looked to where his slugs were apparently getting to know hers. Joo-Joo seemed to be having a rather angry conversation with the reddish Infurnus, and nearby was a pale blue and grey one-eyed slug of a species he'd never seen before. There was also a Tazerling and a Frostcrawler, but the Tazerling had three eyes and the Frostcrawler didn't have feelers.

"I'm travelling light at the moment," Perry explained. "The rest are with me friend. Right now there's just Fury, Barry, Greg and Dave."

Junjie frowned in bafflement.

"Barry, Greg and Dave?" he repeated. "Fury I can understand, but-"

"He sends them to us free of charge," Perry said, oblivious to his confusion. "He's a nice lad. Quiet. It's okay, you can look now."

Relieved, Junjie looked to where she stood as she pulled her dress down over her hips. Her hair was still wet, but looked far cleaner than it had last night.

"You looking to shower?" she asked as she picked up her jacket. "There's only cold water, but it'll wake you right up."

"No," Junjie said, "I showered last night. You seem to be rather a heavy sleeper."

"Aye," Perry said, and she zipped up the jacket only two-thirds of the way, "well, almost drowning got me a bit worn out."

"I can imagine," Junjie said, and he found a chair on which to sit down (after brushing all the dust off first, of course). "May I ask-"

"Why it is I swim like like a lump of limestone?" asked Perry as she secured her first belt.

Thankful that he wouldn't have to mention it himself (though he wouldn't have put it anywhere near as bluntly) Junjie nodded.

"I never really found time to learn it, see," she explained, and pulled on her second belt. "I know it's dumb, 'specially since there's so many lochs and rivers in me world, but I never thought to ask me mam about it. And by the time her job was mine, I were too busy to take time out."

"I see," Junjie said, and she sat down to pull her socks on. "And you made your way across the Cavern Sea by yourself, even though if you fell into the water, there was a good chance you wouldn't be able to get out again."

"Don't remind me," said Perry, and there was a _snap_ as one of her boot clasps closed. "Never said I enjoyed it, did I?"

"No," Junjie said, and noted that despite her dark and apparently extra strong make-up that was only just beginning to fade, her nails were unpainted. "No, you didn't. I'm sorry. It can't have been easy."

"And yet I did it," Perry said as she donned her other boot. "Just goes to show how fantastic I am."

The methodical snapping of her clasps was almost hypnotic.

"So," said Junjie, "this expert you speak of..."

"Me oldest friend," said Perry, and she took her gloves from beside her bunk. "Knows pretty much everything there is to know about slugs. I knew we'd be in trouble when she didn't know anything about what these scuggans are doing, see. Them... ghouls, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Them ghouls had her stumped. And if she don't know something about slugs, it's bloody worrying."

With that, she finished pulling up her gloves and reholstered her blaster on her back.

"You want to head off or shall we have a bite to eat?" she asked.

Junjie watched as she flipped a switch by the side of the shower and it slowly spun around to reveal a large cupboard. The sight was both mesmerizing and mind-boggling.

'This world shall definitely take some getting used to,' he decided.

* * *

This cavern certainly seemed to be a good deal colder than the one he had departed yesterday. Even the light seemed somewhat duller and the colours of the plants were faded and dark, to the point that the trees surrounding the road were near-black. Junjie couldn't avoid feeling apprehensive as he followed Perry down the beaten track, where the ground was hard and grey rather than the light brown he had grown used to.

"So which cavern is this?" he asked.

"Ludgate Cavern," said Perry. "They do good chips here."

'Where?' thought Junjie. 'In a tree trunk?'

There didn't seem to be anything to this place except trees. The idea that somewhere around here was a salesperson for fried potatoes seemed rather out of the question.

"Stop."

Junjie instinctively halted even before he heard the command, as Perry had stopped and drawn her blaster.

"Are we being followed?" he asked, and he looked around at the trees that surrounded them.

"Pretty sure of it," said Perry. "I can't hear anything, but don't you feel it? That tingle on the back of your neck? You get it too, right?"

He didn't reply. It took Junjie a few seconds to realise that yes, he did feel as though he was being watched. He had been concentrating so hard on their surroundings that he hadn't even noticed.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. It was never comfortable.

"When I give the word," Perry muttered, "you charge on down the road. You ride hell-for-leather and you don't stop for nothing. You think you can handle that, lad?"

Suspecting (if not just hoping) that she had a plan, Junjie nodded.

"Okay," she said. "Three..."

In the nearby trees, something moved.

"...twoone _GO!_ "

He slammed on his accelerator at the same time as her and they shot down the track as if fired from blasters. Junjie had no idea where they were heading, but as long as it was away from the threat, he couldn't find it in himself to mind.

Beside him he heard a whoop of joy, and he looked to find that Perry was laughing and smiling like she was on a funfair ride.

"You seem to be enjoying this a little more than necessary!" he pointed out.

"Nothing wrong with having a bit of fun!" she replied. "Do you know how epic it is to go full speed like this? WHOOOO!"

As she cackled and revved for more speed, Junjie looked back to the track. He could feel every rhythmic step of his mecha's feet on the hard ground, strangely calming in their repitition, and air was blowing into his face like he was riding into a gale. He understood her excitement; to ride at such speed, with adrenaline already pumping through his veins and buzzing in the back of his head, was incredibly exhilerating.

"Oi, JJ!" Perry shouted, snapping him out of his stupor. "Six o'clock!"

She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder and Junjie glanced back to see their pursuer. From what he could tell, it was a young woman dressed in dark reds and greens, her brown hair in braids that flew back behind her and her dark brown eyes intently focused on him and his companion. Whatever her expression was behind the mask that hid her nose and mouth, it was almost certainly less than friendly.

She raised a blaster from somewhere within her lioness-built mecha and aimed in their direction.

"It's one of 'em!" Perry shouted. "One of those scuggans what're ghouling our slugs!"

As if on cue, the woman fired, and Junjie leaned to one side as a Grimmstone blazed past his head.

"She must have been waiting for you to return," he stated.

"No shit!" Perry responded bluntly. "Okay, listen up, I got an idea!"

Junjie didn't speak, but after making sure he was on a course to avoid crashing into any trees, he looked to her in expectation.

"Your mecha's got that bike thingy, right?" she asked.

"Yes?" said Junjie.

"If you keep following this track, you'll get to a big clearing!" Perry told him, nodding in the direction they were driving. "What I want you to do is speed on ahead, then turn about and come back the other way and attack her head-on! I'll try stalling her with what I got now, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: I know when I need help!"

Hoping sincerely that she knew what she was doing, Junjie pressed his helmet onto his head.

"And don't you dare ride off and abandon me!" shouted Perry.

"After the effort I went through to keep you alive?" asked Junjie.

With the press of a button, his vehicle transformed underneath him and his wheels kicked up the ground as he shot forward as if fired from a blaster. A smile crept across his face again as he navigated the road, the cold air rushing through his face at speeds one might consider insane.

He couldn't hear the engine of their pursuer anymore, but neither could he hear Perry's, and while he knew it was simply down to distance, the absence was a little concerning.

'She's alright,' he told himself. 'She's a guardian. She can handle herself. This won't be for nothing. She's alright.'

He wove down the track, steering to the left and to the right, and finally came to the promised clearing. It wasn't as large as the Northern woman had made it sound, but it was large enough for him to pull a smooth U-turn with minimal spraying of earth and he was soon speeding back down the road in the direction he had come.

"I'm not looking forward to taking any lives," he said, "so I think it would be a good idea to cool things down."

He held up his arm, ammo slot open, and his faithful Frostcrawler leapt into the blaster. His speedometer told him that he was coming close to a hundred miles per hour, even if it somehow didn't feel that way.

"Are you ready to hit two hundred?" he asked.

The slug nodded with an enthusiastic smile.

Up on the road ahead he saw Perry, and even at this distance he could tell she was relieved to see him returning. He raised his arm and levelled his blaster, making sure he was aiming past her, and as his speedometer's needle finally ticked over the 100 mark, he let loose.

"Yeesh!" Perry exclaimed as she quickly ducked to avoid being hit.

Junjie carefully guided his shot forward and into the opportune position where, as expected, it blew out an immense cloud of ice that froze up the track and all but welded the legs of their pursuer's mecha to the ground. A quick flick of his fingers and the Frostcrawler flew around and around her, surrounding her with a huge, thick tower of pale blue ice, before finishing it off with a domed roof and flying back over to its slinger.

"Excellent work," Junjie said proudly, and gave the little slug a well-earned rub on the head.

"I have absolutely no clue what that thing you were doing with your fingers was," said Perry, who had stopped nearby, "but if that great bloody block of ice is what the result is going to be, you have _got_ to show me how to do it."

Junjie placed his Frostcrawler back in its canister on his bandoleer.

"Perhaps when all of this is over," he said. "This is your realm; where do we go now?"

"Our meeting place is that clearing you did a U-turn in," Perry told him. "Hopefully you didn't scare her off. I told her that if I wasn't back there within a week, she needed to rally her forces and find another way to deal with the problem."

'Rally her forces?' Junjie internally echoed. 'I thought she said that it was a slug expert. Is this woman we're meeting a military commander?'

"C'mon," Perry said, and she revved up her engine. "I've already kept her waiting long enough."

She rode on down the track, and Junjie hurried to catch and keep up with her, as the prospect of meeting up with this person seemed to have her somewhat more determined than she had been before.

"Thanks, by the way," she said. "Gotta admit I half expected you to just ride off and leave me."

"I followed your plan and it worked," Junjie pointed out. "I fail to see how that makes me worthy of gratitude."

Even though he was focusing on the road, he could tell that beside him, Perry was rolling her eyes.

"Mam was right about you Eastern blokes," she said. "You're too polite for your own good."

It was Junjie's turn to roll his eyes as he decided to take this comment in stride rather than retaliate and risk starting some bizarre sort of compliment/insult battle.

It wasn't long before they reached the clearing, which was still as empty as it had been the first time Junjie entered it. They halted their rides and dismounted, at which point the newcomer to the realm decided it was time to bring up a new subject.

"'JJ'?" he said questioningly.

Perry, who was leaning casually against her mecha, glanced over at him with a face like she was preparing to laugh.

"Aye?" she said. "What about it?"

"When you alerted me to the fact that we were being chased," said Junjie, "why did you feel the need to call me 'JJ'? It has the same number of syllables as my actual name, so as a nickname, it rather falls flat."

"You want me to be honest?" said Perry. "It was all getting exciting and in the heat if the moment, I forgot your name."

Junjie's questioning look became an annoyed glare.

"I remember it now, so there's no need for you to look at me like that!" she responded angrily. "Tell you what: give me a nickname. Go on. Make it fair. I'll call you JJ and you can call me whatever the hell you want in return."

She wasn't showing any of the typical physical cues that would betray a lie. Odd though she was, it would be rude to deny her request, especially considering how he was a guest in her realm now.

"Very well," Junjie said, "...Blue."

Perry's expression was now one of complete befuddlement.

"It makes more sense as a nickname than that you have chosen for me," Junjie explained. "I'm no botanist, but I know that a periwinkle is a small, bluish-purple flower usually found in grass, and I would be blind not to notice the blue that you yourself have included in your shoes, gloves and even your hair. And please refrain from taking this the wrong way, but the colour of your eyes would put even Eli to shame."

Perry scoffed.

"I've had six boyfriends, lad," she said. "Pretty hard for me to take something like that the _right_ way."

Junjie was about to respond with something snarky, but his attention was caught be the sound of approaching footsteps that were unmistakably those of a mecha. He pressed himself away from his vehicle preparing to greet whoever was arriving...

...only to find, to his dismay, that it was the woman who had chased them through the woods mere minutes ago.

"She must have had a fire slug," he muttered as the stranger dismounted. "I can-"

"No way, JJ."

He was halted by the blue-gloved hand of the native to the realm.

"You stand back this time," she said. "If this lass wants me for a fight, then it's a fight from me she'll bloody well get."

She pulled her blaster from her back and slotted a canister in. From the pale coloration, Junjie guessed that it was Barry, the slug she had referred to during breakfast as a 'Mistspitter'.

"So what's this all about then, eh?" she demanded, and her accent seemed somehow emphasized by the rage in her voice. "You lot come over here, you take our slugs and you do who knows what to 'em and you think people'll just sit back and let you roll over 'em, do you?"

The stranger remained silent.

"I don't know where you came from or who the hell you think you are," said Perry, and took aim with her blaster, "but I ain't letting you or yours do whatever it is you're trying to do to my caverns. You got that? Now scurry on home and tell your bosses to clear off!"

Still the strange woman was quiet, save for the rattling of her breath in the mask on her face.

"Are you even listening?" Perry said, so loud that she was almost shouting.

Apparently not, as the stranger opened fire. An enraged Thrasher barreled towards Perry too quickly for Junjie to try to save her.

She bent over backwards, avoiding the shot flawlessly, and rested her right hand on the ground for support. She looked Junjie dead in the eye and winked with a cheeky smile, and then her weight carried her over her hand in a near-perfect flip. Her touchdown was as light as a feather and she was straightened up again in less than a second.

"I'll take that as a no," she said, as behind her a tree crashed to the ground with its trunk sliced neatly in the middle.

She fired and Junjie got a brief glimpse of a Velocimorph striped in pale grey and blue before the woman was engulfed in a dense yet localised fog. Perry quickly slotted another canister into her blaster and fired again, and her Frostcrawler sped out and spat a cloud of freezing air at the slowly dissipating mist.

"Are you ready to give up?" Perry shouted.

The mist fell as it froze and revealed that the woman was standing as still as a statue, glaring at her opponent with murder in her eyes. She raised her blaster and fired again, and the same Grimmstone from earlier came flying out and Perry darted to the side with a deft twirl so quick that her feet left the ground. When she landed, she spun down onto one knee, aimed again and fired her Tazerling.

It hit the woman on the leg and she froze, her body paralysed by the currents coursing through her, until a sudden jerk of her leg sent the slug spinning off into a tree. She reloaded and fired again, shooting another Thrasher, and Perry jumped up and would have fallen over had she not launched herself into a one-handed cartwheel. She straightened up, balancing perfectly despite her crossed legs, and slotted Fury into her blaster.

'She's like a dancer,' Junjie realised. 'If music was playing, she would almost certainly be moving to the rhythm. But why would she choose such a style for slugslinging, of all occupations?'

"One of two things, lass!" Perry yelled. "Either say why you're here or GET YOUR FACE OUT OF MY CAVERNS!"

She supported her left arm with her right and fired, and Fury flew out and surrounded the assailant in a tornado of flame, but she raised her leg and kicked and the Infurnus fell out of the air and hit the ground in a daze.

"Fury!" Perry cried in shock. She reached for her belt, but her canisters were all gone.

Realising that she was in trouble, Junjie jumped over his mecha and prepared to let loose a slug of his own.

"Perry! CATCH!"

The shout came from somewhere in the trees and was followed by a fresh canister flying in the female slinger's direction. She caught it left-handed, slotted it into her blaster and fired, just as the masked stranger let loose another Grimmstone.

A Rammstone flew from Perry's barrel and punched the ghoul aside, but Junjie could see that in its current trajectory, it was going to miss.

He raised his hands.

Just a small nudge...

...and the angry red creature slammed into the woman's chest, sending her flying to the ground.

She scrambled up and onto her mecha and rode away faster than Junjie would have thought possible.

"Perry!" cried the same voice from earlier, and Junjie looked just in time to see another stranger crash into Perry. He almost assumed a fighting stance before he realised that rather than another attack, this was a hug. A tight one. Definitely one of reunion.

"I'm so glad you're back!" the new girl said. "You had me worried sick!"

"Hey, it ain't me if I ain't worrying someone," Perry replied with a smile.

The two broke apart and Junjie got a proper look at the newcomer. She was shorter than Perry and dressed entirely in two shades of green that closed up to her neck but left her upper arms bare, and she was somewhat chubbier and more rounded than the other woman. Her hair was pale purple, chin-length and wavy and her skin...

She was blue. Proper troll blue. Were she any more natural flesh tone she would have just looked like an ordinary if slightly overweight girl, but her skin was the same colour as Kord's and stood out like a sore thumb.

And right now, she was frowning.

"Why is your hair loose?" she asked. "It's damp too, and your make-up's faded."

She sniffed.

"You stink of salt!" she exclaimed. "Perry, you fell into the sea, didn't you?!"

"You got me, Len," said Perry. "Can never hide anything from you, can I?"

"I told you!" 'Len' chastised angrily. "I told you you should've taken the ferry, but oh no, Perry McLinden knows best! Perry McLinden knows crossing the Cavern Sea on her mecha is the most logical course of action a person who can't swim could ever hope to take!"

"I'm alright!" Perry insisted. "Look at me, I didn't drown! I'm fine!"

'Len' sighed, but it was hard to tell if it was from exasperation or relief.

"Did you at least find who you were looking for?" she asked.

"Aye," said Perry, "but he's already got enough on his plate, so this bloke decided to accompany me instead. Claims he's just as good and so far seems to be proving it."

She indicated Junjie, and that was apparently the first time the newcomer actually noticed he was there. Her light purple eyes widened upon catching sight of him, then narrowed in suspicion.

"Is he now?" she said, and cautiously approached. "And you're sure he's not with those people who are corrupting our slugs?"

"If I were a member of the group that is ghouling your realms' slugs, would I have agreed to aid Perry even though I was given the opportunity to leave her to drown?" Junjie pointed out.

The girl seemed unconvinced, and Junjie could both see and feel her eyes scanning over his body. They paused when they fell upon his bandoleer, at which point she finally seemed convinced of his legitimacy.

"Then I guess I should be thanking you," she said, and offered a hand to shake. "My name's Leonora Harper, but I'd appreciate it if you could call me Lenny. It's much easier."

"My name is Junjie," said Junjie, and he shook the hand that was offered. "Perry claims that you are an expert on slugs?"

"Pretty much," Lenny replied. "Speaking of which, c'mon out, boys!"

She turned her body towards Perry and a group of slugs leapt out of the canisters on her belt and hopped towards Perry, who knelt down to greet them.

"Hey, fellas!" she said happily. "You miss me? Steve, just as pale and energetic as usual, I see! Mike, you blow any good bubbles while I was gone? I see you haven't stopped spinning, Brian! Nice to 'sea' you too, Keith!"

It was a Fandango, a Bubbaleone, an Arachnet and an Aquabeek; the Fandango was so pale it was almost difficult to identify, the Bubbaleone had a scar where one of its eyes should have been, the Arachnet was plain purple all over and the Aquabeek was completely black. They were quickly joined by the other four as they returned to their slinger, and then Perry noticed the Rammstone hopping over to her.

She picked it up and stood, gently cradling it in her hand.

"What's this guy's story, then?" she asked.

"He arrived a couple of days ago," Lenny explained. "Denny sent him over after stopping some kid throwing him against the wall because the spoiled brat didn't want a 'broken' slug."

Perry's smile fell, and she held up the Rammstone for Junjie to see. He noticed that despite the slug's happy smile, it was balancing carefully on a single stubby leg.

"See, this is what I was telling you about," she said. "Look at this guy. He's lovely! But 'coz he ain't got two legs, slingers ain't going to look twice at him."

She drew the slug closer and affectionately stroked its head.

"I'm going to call you Graeme," she declared.

Junjie gave Lenny a questioning look, hoping maybe she could explain this woman's odd naming trend when it came to slugs.

"Be glad it's not a female," she whispered, "or else she would've called it Aileen."

Perry set her new addition down on the ground to socialise with the rest of her now-expanded arsenal.

"So then, Lenny," she said, "did you manage to find anything else out while I was away?"

"Yes, I did," Lenny replied proudly, "and if you'll give me a moment, I'll get some documents from my mecha that can help us."

She picked her way around the congregation of slugs and walked into the trees.

"You seem quite close," Junjie commented.

"I did say she's me oldest friend," Perry said. "Though sometimes it feels more like she's my assistant."

"And sometimes," called Lenny from behind the treeline, "it's more like I'm her carer!"

"Aye," said Perry. "She cares so I don't have to."

Lenny rolled her eyes as she emerged clutching a large roll of paper, and upon reaching the pair, she opened it to reveal an extremely detailed map.

"Okay, so," she said. "Denny sent a letter along with your- along with Graeme, and he said there have been suspicious people building odd machines down in Symphogna Cavern."

"I'm not surprised," said Junjie. "I was told that dark water reserves can lie quite some distance below the ground, and that it can only be accessed by digging or drilling downwards."

"Dark water, eh?" said Perry. "Is that what they're using to mess up the slugs?"

"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly," Junjie said flatly, "but yes."

"Bugger," Lenny swore. "So I marked it out as a possible target, and I've been in contact with relatives near Firewall Cavern who've been saying similar things. That a large machine was built recently and it seems to be doing a lot of damage to the ecosystem. Fifty people have been admitted to hospitals with unexplained injuries that look like skin lesions at best and gangrene at worst in the past month and-"

"And that means it's another place we'll have to pay a visit to," Perry interjected. "Any others?"

A flash of worry crossed Lenny's features.

"One," she said. "Benny left yesterday to map the Eastern Ridge and he called me on his way to say he'd seen movement on Fogfall Island. Strange red lights and sounds of machinery."

"Fogfall Island?!" Perry blurted suddenly. "You're kidding me! Crivens, I know where we're going last!"

Junjie looked down at the map and he noticed that someone (and he had a fairly good idea who) had drawn a little skull next to a blotch labelled _Fogfall Island_ and written _HERE THERE BE DOOM_ in deliberately wobbly lettering.

"So that leaves us with a choice of Firewall and Symphogna," said Lenny, and she rolled up the map. "Where do we go first?"

Perry once again pursed her lips in thought.

"I must confess to being a stranger to these lands," said Junjie, "but of the two, Symphogna sounds far more pleasant."

"You got that right," said Perry. "Firewall's full of volcanoes and Symphogna's just full of herbs and paintings."

She looked down at her slugs.

"What do you fellas think?" she asked. "Wanna go back to Symphogna?"

The slugs squeaked and cheered in enthusiastic response. Even Fury was smiling at the suggestion.

"How about you, JJ?" asked Perry. "I'm guessing you're on board since the one who brought it up, but do you fancy a trip down to Symphogna?"

Junjie shrugged.

"This is your realm and I am the one providing aid to you," he pointed out. "Whichever you think is the best course of action is the one I shall follow."

Perry's smile returned.

"It has been a while since I got to see Denny," Lenny said thoughtfully. "It would be nice to pay him a visit. I wonder if he's still working for Sophia and Loren?"

"One way to find out!" Perry said, and she swiftly mounted her robot unicorn.

Though he still felt a little apprehensive, Junjie climbed onto his mecha.

'Symphogna Cavern it is,' he said to himself.

* * *

"Why did you fail, Aramis?" Athos demanded harshly. "Why weren't you able to take her out?!"

Aramis remained silent, as she had for the past seven years of her life.

"You were instructed to collect slugs from Ludgate Cavern," Athos reminded her younger sister, "and that if you saw the McLinden or anybody with her, you were to kill them!"

"Athos, please!"

A shorter brunette ran over to the kneeling one.

"Can't you see she's hurt?" asked d'Artagnan. "She got hit in the chest! She was struggling to breathe!"

Athos didn't speak. She frowned at her younger siblings in disdain.

"Please," d'Artagnan begged. "I was scared she was going to get hurt. I don't want to see anyone get hurt!"

Resigned to the fact that she couldn't expel her siblings, Athos sighed.

"Aramis, relocate to Fogfall Island," she commanded. "Reinforce the defenses and if anything's wrong with the drill, fix it. It's sure to have hit _something_ by now."

Aramis stood and bowed, and then she left the room.

"Athos..." d'Artagnan said fearfully.

"It's alright," said Athos. "All of us are going to be fine, I promise."

Neither of the siblings shared eye contact during the declaration, and d'Artagnan left the room with a worried mind, a heavy heart and a neck far more sore than it had been yesterday.


	4. Wayfaring Stranger

Lenny's mecha rather resembled a mouse, except its legs and snout were far too long for it to have been a mouse. The snout in question was also quite plainly a cannon large enough for a slug to be fired at potentially terrifying velocity.

It was also, surprisingly, rather fast. It scuttered along the ground almost like a lizard, rather than galloping like the vehicles of the pair she now rode with, and her ride appeared to be a good deal smoother as a result.

But it wasn't that which had Junjie's attention right now.

"So who was it?" he couldn't avoid asking.

"Hmm?" Lenny looked up at him with a questioning face.

"Please don't think me rude," said Junjie, "but I can only assume that somewhere in your lineage, there is a troll."

"Oi!" Perry could be heard objecting from up ahead. "Are you being rude to my Lenny?!"

"No, no, it's fine!" Lenny said quickly. "I'm glad he just asked me up front about it. Most of the time, people just stare!"

She tucked a coil of her hair behind one ear.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, it's true that I'm part troll. My family used to be strictly single-member generations like Perry's family, but my great-great-grandmother had some rather different views on sexuality and family, as well as some... different tastes in men. By which I mean she took a troll for her husband and had nine children with him and now my family is mostly blue-skinned and accounts for about 85% of the population of Bootleg Cavern."

For a few seconds, Junjie was speechless.

"Wow," he said numbly.

"Yeah, we tend to get quite a bit of unwanted attention," Lenny casually. "My mother is as human as they come-"

"And she makes the best damn curry this side of Slugterra!" Perry interjected.

"-and so are a couple of my aunts and uncles, but a majority of the family looks more like me," Lenny finished regardless. "I guess we're lucky we've always been so close to the McLindens, otherwise who knows what could have happened by now."

"Lenny, love, I don't think anyone's going to try to start something with someone who's part troll," Perry said. "Have you seen some of those buggers? Have you seen those lads in Kenny's slugby team? Those fellas could punch your freakin' head off in a single blow!"

Lenny's laugh seemed more from nervous shock than amusement.

"Somehow I doubt that!" she called.

"Well I bloody don't!" Perry responded.

It had been roughly an hour since their encounter with the stranger in Ludgate Cavern, in which they had worked out their plan, and now they were southbound for Symphogna Cavern. Junjie wordlessly confessed to himself that he had no idea why the cavern would be named that unless it was permanently filled with bombastic music, but it would be interesting to see if that really was the case. Hopefully he could experience it without deafening himself.

The track they were following seemed far more alive than that which he and Perry had ridden on earlier. He could see flowers nestled in between the plants and slugs occasionally looking out to see what was happening or who was passing. It felt warmer too, almost like he was back in the West, though it still seemed far too damp to be the West.

"Anyway, what about you?" he heard Lenny ask. "You look more like you come from the Eastern Caverns than anything else."

Junjie felt his face flush and he looked away from her to hide it.

"What's wrong?" Lenny asked innocently.

"Better not talk about that, love," said Perry. "It's a bit of a tender subject. He ain't said much about it but from what I can tell, Junjie's home is his Lizzy."

"Oh," said Lenny, and sounded considerably more sombre. "I see. S-sorry, I didn't know."

Lizzy... hadn't Kord mentioned that name? That was Perry's mother, wasn't it?

Perry's mother who had apparently been dead for several years...

When he looked back over at her, Junjie saw that Lenny was smiling sympathetically, and when he looked ahead, he noticed that Perry was doing the same, though there somehow seemed to be far more understanding in her face than there was in that of the green-clad girl.

"How much further is it to our destination?" he asked in a bid to change the subject.

"We're about a third of the way there," Perry reported. "We won't arrive for a while yet, but we'll definitely get there before evening, I can tell you that much."

"And before you ask, we're definitely on the right track," Lenny said confidently. "It helps when your eldest brother is a cartographer."

'How many brothers does this girl have?' Junjie found himself wondering.

"So JJ," said Perry, "if you ain't comfy talking about your homelands, the least you could do is say more about that mob you were with. Is that wee lad really the Shane or was he having me on?"

"No, he's the Shane," Junjie confirmed. "I know it's difficult to believe, but Eli has proven himself to be a capable slinger in spite of his age and lack of experience."

"Age?" Lenny spoke up. "How old is this guy?"

"He told me he was sixteen when we met," said Junjie, "but-"

He didn't get a chance to finish because both young women were laughing too hard for his voice to be heard.

"Sixteen?!" exclaimed Lenny. "I would've believed anything else but- really, _sixteen?!_ "

"Like I said," said Junjie, "it's difficult to believe. He has already been in defence of the realm for almost a year now-"

"What, so he took over when he were _fifteen?!_ " cried Perry. "What the hell sort of shower are they running in that place?"

"Well, how old are you?" asked Junjie, likely sounding more antagonistic than he had intended.

"I'm twenty, lad. I got two whole decades under me belt."

"And how long have you been the guardian of the Northern caverns?"

Perry was silent. A strange air of sombre sobriety filled the air, and a quick glance at Lenny showed worry on her face.

"Three years now," said the slim woman, somehow retaining her perky tone despite the marked change in her air.

"So you were seventeen," Junjie deduced. "I fail to see how that puts you very far above Eli."

"She was meant to take over when she was eighteen," said Lenny.

"But then me mam went and kicked the bucket," Perry explained, "and I weren't about to leave this place to the dogs, so I took up the blaster a year early. I guess it helped that I'd been training for it since I was six, but that's still a whole year of learning I ain't going to get."

Oh. That made sense.

"I ain't about to ask what your story is," said Perry, "being as you don't seem to like talking about it. I'll just think; you've got an Infurnus, you got blasters, and you got skills I ain't never seen before and I probably won't see in any other bloke. And as long as you're using that stuff for us and not against us, we'll be friends. Got that, JJ?"

Junjie smiled.

"Received and understood, Blue," he replied.

Lenny looked between the pair in bafflement.

"Why do I feel as if I missed something?" she demanded.

"It ain't anything major," said Perry. "So the lad's sixteen, but what's he actually like? When I spoke to him, he seemed pretty bloody uptight."

"Well, you _did_ burn up a tavern," Junjie pointed out.

"What?" said an exasperated-sounding Lenny. "Perry, _again?!_ "

"He tries to be intimidating when he's on a mission," said Junjie. "I'm sure that you would be able to relate."

"What, me? Nah!" said Perry. "I don't even have to try to make folks wet their pants. When people looking to start trouble get a load of _this_ , they turn on their tails and scurry away!"

Lenny snorted in laughter.

"He's typically quite laid back," Junjie continued regardless. "Unless something's bothering him, in which case he tends to become uncharacteristically quiet."

"That sounds familiar," said Lenny.

"Oi, shut up!" Perry complained.

"He seems to have a natural bond with slugs," said Junjie. "I tried to teach him Slug Fu some time ago and I showed him my method of catching slugs, which of course was successful, but he just... he asked and they agreed."

"Nice to know chivalry isn't dead after all," said Lenny.

"Slug Fu," Perry echoed. "Is that the thing you were doing with your fingers earlier?"

"Yes," Junjie said proudly. "It is an ancient and-"

"Can you teach me?"

"...perhaps later."

"And what about that troll lad?" asked Perry. "He seemed to know more about me clan than I'd expected."

"Kord always has been quite in tune with popular culture," Junjie explained, "and if your family is as prominent as it seems, it would have surprised me if he hadn't heard of you or your mother. He may be a mechanic, but there are plenty of other fields he's decent in."

"And the bun-head girl?"

"Good grief, how many people are in this group?!" Lenny asked in alarm.

"There's only five of us," Junjie replied, "though Trixie tends not to talk about herself very much. I'm quite surprised she didn't film you while we were having our discussion. She's a reporter in everything but name, after all. I often have to ask her not to film me while I practise my art, yet still she refuses."

"Maybe she has a thing for you," Lenny suggested.

"No," Junjie denied, "I think I'd notice if some person had a 'thing' for me."

"And the Molenoid?" said Perry. "What's his beef?"

"Pronto places a good deal of faith in his talents," Junjie told her. "Perhaps a little more than he should. He doesn't like the concept of any person being more skilled than he is, and I don't think he takes well to those who destroy his favourite drinks."

"Are you ever going to let me live that down?" Perry asked angrily.

"Trust me, Junjie," Lenny said. "When she does that or anything like it, it's best just to move on. It's not the first time she's destroyed a pub and I somehow doubt it'll be the last."

"Hey, the Slug's Song brought it on themselves," Perry objected. "The bloke wouldn't let me finish off me drink at closing time when I only had a mouthful left to go. It was a bloody waste!"

"And what about the Dog and Slug?" asked Lenny. "Did they allow you to finish your drink?"

"Aye, but the bloke overcharged me and refused to admit it!" Perry said angrily. "Thirty coins for one glass of scotch? That's a bloody rip-off, that is! It's daylight robbery!"

"And the Slinger's Head?"

"A guy was planning to rob it and things got a bit out of hand."

"The Empty Blaster?"

"Structurally unsound. Place was going to collapse. If I hadn't got everyone out, they'd be dead."

"The Drunken Diggrix?"

"Smokers."

"The Famished Fandango?"

"Smokers."

"The Flaringo's Feast?"

"Smokers!"

"Exactly how many taverns have you destroyed?" asked Junjie, who was beginning to feel a bit left out of the conversation.

"You don't want to know," Lenny said quickly. "I'll just say the number is higher than it has any right to be."

"If people are going to pick fights with me, they do so at their own risk," Perry said solidly. "My mam made it her duty to see to it this realm was as safe as can be for those who couldn't make it that way for themselves and I'll be buggered if I don't try to keep that legacy going. It's been going for over 400 years now, so why should I let it die with me?"

Junjie could see her tightening her grip with her heels on the sides of her mecha.

"Punch for those who don't have fists," she said, sounding as though this was something she had rehearsed. "Kick for those who don't have feet. Speak for those who don't have voices. That's what me mam taught me and what her mam taught her and what I'll be teaching my kids when they arrive, and when my kids have kids of their own, that's what they'll learn. No king. No queen. No lord. No master. We will not be fooled again."

Her voice echoed with anger and pride. Junjie couldn't help feeling a little impressed at her determination.

"In case you're wondering," Lenny said to him, "the answer is yes: she really is always this dramatic."

"Ain't nothing dramatic about it!" Perry objected loudly.

"Are you sure?" asked Junjie. "You sounded as if you were giving a speech."

"Well, it's important!" Perry insisted. "If the McLinden clan don't stick up for the people of the North then who the hell will?!"

She looked down at her compass.

"We're still on course," she said. "So let's not slow down just to argue. The sooner we get to Symphogna Cavern and deal with those ghouling scuggans, the better."

"Right," said Lenny.

"Understood," added Junjie.

He focused his attention on the road ahead.

* * *

The hours seemed to blur together as the trio galloped down the road. Forests became plains and plains somehow became a wide, crystal-lit tunnel which stretched on as far as Junjie's eye could see. He would probably become claustrophobic if they didn't soon reach their destination.

The path ahead seemed blank and empty.

Would they ever arrive? Or would they just keep riding forever, onward into the unknown?

"You alright, JJ?"

His stupor came to an end at Perry's question, and for the first time he noticed that she'd pulled back and was now riding alongside him rather than ahead. Either that or his daze had caused him to decelerate.

"You look like you're a million miles away, lad," she said. "Mind having a bit of a wander, is it?"

"Perhaps," Junjie replied. "Please tell me we don't have much further to go."

Perry smiled.

"Just you wait," she said.

"By which she means yes, we're almost there," said Lenny.

"You never let me have any fun, do you, Lenny?" asked Perry.

"Not when we have important work to do," Lenny said, "and considering what your job is, your work is pretty much always important."

"It's true that the work of a guardian is vital," Junjie agreed, "but there's nothing to say you can't invoke a little enjoyment, such as the occasional well-timed joke or surfing on a raging torrent of mud."

"You _what?!_ " exclaimed Perry. "Now there's a story I want to hear!"

"It's going to have to wait, though," said Lenny, "seeing as we've arrived."

True to her word, the tunnel opened up to a cavern that bore an aura of palest purple about its roof and the stalactites that hung there, lined with veins of lumino ore that lit the region like no lamp ever could. Tall trees blanketed the cavern ahead, even growing between the buildings of the town that was visible up ahead, which bore buildings of a size and design that Junjie hadn't seen for what felt like an eternity. Some were so immense that they almost touched the cavern roof, and some were so ornate as to almost look like works of art in themselves. The people who milled around between these buildings and the trees were all dressed in clothes which appeared stylish and expensive, and many carried musical instrument cases if not books or writing utensils.

"Well, JJ," said Perry, "welcome to Symphogna Cavern, aka Slugterra's Cultural Cornocopia."

"If you can name a composer or an artist or a filmmaker or a singer in any genre, odds are they either came from this cavern or trained here at some point," said Lenny. "Mello Yello, Stella Tarocchi- even Max Jackson took acting lessons here! Although from what I've seen those disasters he calls films, they didn't exactly work."

"And the food here is to die for!" said Perry. "It ain't quite spicy enough for me to want nothing but it, but it ain't the sort of stuff you pass up if it gets offered."

"Are you two telling me about this place or advertising a holiday offer?" asked Junjie.

The two young women snorted in laughter at his quip.

"But if this place truly is as busy as you make it sound," Junjie said, "how is it that there are slugs here left to catch?"

"It's _because_ it's busy that they're so valuable," said Lenny. "There's a lot more forest than you see right here, but the ones you do find tend to be quite hardy. Just take a look at Perry's arsenal if you don't believe me."

Junjie didn't need to. Considering Perry was so proud of them in spite of their disabilities, they probably were rather strong.

His eye still wandered to one side, where he couldn't help but notice a considerable number of bystanders were turning their attention in his direction.

"So where do we go?" he asked.

"Denny works outside the town, further into the wood," said Lenny, "so that's where we'll go. I might say hi to Sophia and Loren while we're there."

"Do we have to?" Perry asked.

"They're Denny's bosses," Lenny pointed out. "It would be rude not to at least say hello."

"And I s'pose it would be rude just to keep on riding?" asked Perry.

"Let me guess," said Junjie. "You and these women have a history."

"Aye," Perry replied, "and it ain't pleasant."

"They accepted your apology, Perry," said Lenny. "You need to accept the fact that they probably aren't going to forgive you in the near future."

Perry sighed with a huff.

"Let's keep moving, alright?" she said. "The sooner we get more info and finish this, the better."

After one final glance at the curious musicians who were milling around, Junjie moved forward to follow the two young women.

"Did these ladies run a tavern of some sort?" he asked.

"Oi!" Perry said objectively. "Drop it!"

"It was called The Grenuker's Buffet," said Lenny, "but now it's more commonly known as Development Zone #23."

"I said drop it!"

"Sophia didn't like people smoking in there-"

" _Lenny..._ "

"-but nobody would listen to Loren when she tried to make them stop-"

"Lenny, I swear to-"

"-so Perry stepped in and, long story short, the lot is now being considered for a children's playground."

At the lack of angry retort from the impromptu leader of the trio, Junjie eyed her with curiosity.

"Lenny," she said after a few moments, "you're me best friend and I love you to pieces, but _damn_ if you can't grate me nerves sometimes."

"What're friends for?" Lenny asked with a snigger.

* * *

True to their word, the land beyond the town opened up to a forest that seemed to stretch into the infinite. It was almost like the buildings in the town behind the trio had been dropped from the air at random. Junjie somehow found himself trying to avoid looking up to see if more structures were protruding from the cavern roof.

He rubbed at his head. He'd been spending far too much time around Eli if he was now wondering if a cavern could bleed buildings.

Beside him, Perry sucked in a deep breath through her nose.

"Careful," said Lenny. "Don't want to inhale your stud again, do you?"

"Let's just get through this," Perry sighed.

"Think of it as if you were removing a stick-on bandage," Junjie suggested. "Do it quickly and try not to pay too much attention to it, or else you'll end up in even more pain than you were feeling before you applied it."

"Thanks for the analogy, lad," said Perry, "but I don't think Sophia or Loren would fall off me toe while I was in the shower."

Junjie turned his eyes to the woods before him, and saw a building nestled between the trees. It rather resembled the shack he and Perry had spend the previous night in, except it was larger and appeared far better kept. As he watched, a pair of large figures emerged from a door on the side and started heading into the woods.

"That's them," said Lenny, and she started waving. "Loren! Sophia!"

Their attention caught, the figures moved off their course and into the light.

Sophia and Loren, it became apparent, were two troll women with small, thin scars coating their faces and bare arms and small cages dangling from the bandoleers that hung around their armoured chests. One of them had her hair cut short and shaved at the back of her head while the other bore thin braids that were tied into a ponytail. When they saw Lenny dismounting from her mecha, smiles spread across their faces.

"Lenny!" said the one with the shaved head. "Long time no see, _amico!_ "

"Did you get taller since we last saw you?" asked the one with the braids, and she ruffled the smaller girl's hair. "You look so grown up!"

The one with the shaved head looked up, and her smile fell when she caught sight of the second female newcomer.

"Perry," she said by way of a passive aggressive greeting.

"Sophia," Perry responded.

The glares they shared could have melted stone. It was almost like they were trying to kill one another through their eyes.

It was only broken by Junjie's hand in front of Perry's face.

"Can we please focus?" he asked.

"I _am_ focusing," Perry growled.

"How is your family, Len?" asked the other, who was presumably Loren. "How's Cathleen?"

"She's great!" Lenny replied. "Dad too."

"I hope your sister's been practising," said Sophia, and she turned her attention away from Perry at last.

"She has," said Lenny. "I should show you some of the things she's drawn sometime."

" _Si_ , I'd love that!" Loren said happily. "We still have that painting she made for our wedding next to our door."

"We'll have to find a new frame for it soon though," said Sophia. "The one she gave us is starting to rust."

"They seem to be rather close," Junjie commented quietly.

"They're her brother's bosses," Perry pointed out. "I'd be concerned if they weren't close."

As the conversation between the three blue-skinned women continued, a third stranger emerged from the trees and stared at the gathering in confusion. The three were so deep in conversing that they didn't notice his arrival.

"Here's our man," said Perry, and she stepped down from her mecha.

"Huh?" Lenny's attention was diverted by this, and after she noticed the newcomer, her face lit up and she charged at him with an excited scream of "DENNY!"

The newcomer rested the large, hoover-like device he had been holding on the ground and caught the girl in a massive hug.

He was taller than she was by a rather considerable amount, as well as thinner and of a far more lanky stature. His hair was red and messily brushed to one side in a mass of rough spikes and his eyes were a murky shade of green, but there was no doubt he was Lenny's sibling. His skin was exactly the same tone as hers and he bore the same tattoo; an odd, mystical-looking swirl that reached from just above his collarbone to the very bottom of his left cheek.

"So I assume you're on good terms with him, at least," said Junjie.

"Of course!" Perry said. "I'm tight with all the Harper lads and lasses and Denny ain't an exception! Even if it's a little bit of a challenge to talk to him."

"A challenge?" said Junjie. "In what way?"

"It's so good to see you!" Lenny said as she broke away. "How are you?"

Her last three words were accompanied by a series of hand movements, to which Denny responded with a smile and a thumbs-up, and he waved farewell to Sophia and Loren as they departed into the trees. Then he gave Lenny a quizzical look.

"I'm doing well," said Lenny, still making the motions with her hands, "but Denny, we need a bit of help."

"Has he even noticed us?" Junjie asked quietly.

"No point in whispering, lad," Perry replied. "It ain't like he'll be able to hear you."

Junjie looked from her to the siblings, where Lenny was explaining the situation very slowly, and with even more hand movements that the newcomer to the realm didn't understand accompanying each word. He didn't seem to have noticed the other pair yet.

"Oh," Junjie said as he realised.

"Aye," said Perry. "And the worst part is that we still ain't sure if it were something when he were wee or if he were born that way."

"So he lip reads?"

"Signs too, but he prefers lip reading."

Both conversations came to an end as Lenny indicated them to her bother, and Denny faced them with an expression of concern and sombreness.

"Have there been any suspicious newcomers to this cavern?" Perry asked.

"The things they're doing will bring harm not only to this cavern, but to all of Slugterra," Junjie explained. "It's vital that their actions are brought to an end as soon as possible. Have you noticed a shortage of slugs in this cavern or any nearby lately?"

Denny tapped thoughtfully on his chin, and Junjie restrained himself from sighing in relief at the fact that he had been understood. The last thing he wanted was to appear ignorant.

After a few seconds, Denny pointed into the trees, and then his fingers started racing through a series of gestures and movements.

"On the other side of the wood," Lenny translated," there's a theatre that should've been demolished three years ago. It's been abandoned for decades. I saw some women I've never seen before there. They were dressed in dark clothes and hunting for slugs, but they weren't wranglers. I would've known if they were."

"A theatre?" asked the baffled Perry.

"I guess they are rather large in terms of structure," Junjie pointed out. "If you cleared out the audience seating, there would be more than enough room for a drill of some sort, and the stage and any above-ground audience would provide a decent enough vantage point."

"Hmmph," Perry hummed. "And if it turns out to be one of those silly little avant-garde theatres where the stage is the size of a pea and there's no seating and the curtains are made of lettuce or whatever, I think I'll just destroy the pretentious special-snowflake stupid-fest for the hell of it."

'Says the woman with the flapper hairstyle and evening gloves worn in combat,' Junjie thought.

"And is it straight through the woods?" Lenny asked. "There's a track, right?"

Denny nodded.

"Okay then!" Perry said enthusiastically. "Lenny, you find us a hotel to stay in. JJ and me will show those scuggans what they're up against."

"Wait, what?" Junjie said as Perry mounted her mecha. "She isn't coming?"

"Hell no!" said Lenny. "I'm a slug researcher, not a slinger! There's no way I'd willingly involve myself in a fight if it was something I could avoid! Come on guys, out you go."

The slugs that had been sitting in her belt hopped out and made their way over to Perry, but paused on their way and happily waved to Denny, who returned it with a faint smile. The slugs that were already sitting in her belt did the same.

"Please try not to take too long," Lenny said.

"We won't," said Perry as Junjie climbed onto his mecha. "We should be back by nightfall, provided it ain't too rough. Right, JJ?"

"Yes," Junjie said. "I'm confident that we should be able to deal with this problem swiftly and effectively."

The two blue part-humans saluted with faint smiles.

"Good luck," Lenny said.

Perry nodded, then placed four of her fingers on her chin.

"Thank you," she said to Denny, and brought her hand down in his direction.

Denny nodded in acknowledgement.

Junjie revved up his engine, and he and Perry rode into the trees.

"I assume you don't know a great deal of sign language," said Junjie.

"No, I don't," Perry admitted, "but I know enough to show I ain't ungrateful."

Junjie smiled, and when he caught sight of the road up ahead, they steered towards it and galloped on into the forest.

* * *

She slammed down the On button as hard as her pained fingers would allow.

"Athos, we've got a problem," she said.

There was a sigh from the other end of the line.

"What is it, Porthos?" was the bored-sounding reply. "Have you hit dark water yet?"

"No," said Porthos, "but-"

"Then why aren't you monitoring the drill instead of bothering me?"

"Because the McLinden is coming!" Porthos snapped. "She and a man I've never seen before just rode past one of the cameras I set up by the side of the track. They're headed towards me right now!"

She was met with silence, save for the faint hiss of static.

"Athos," she said, unable to hide her desperation, "what should I do?"

Again, there was a quiet buzz of static. Was she gone? Had her elder sister abandoned her right when she needed an order?

Finally, there was a response:

"Deal with them."

The connection dropped.


	5. All We All We Are

The building must once have been splendid and beautiful, truly a sight to behold, but the years had taken their toll and it looked less like it had been abandoned for decades and more like no person had set foot there in centuries. Its doors, once polished glass in gold-painted frames, now had their windows replaced with wooden boards and the paint was almost completely flaked off. The box office at the entrance stood empty and overgrown with vines and it appeared that a tree was beginning to grow there, restricted by what remained of the former theatre. The rest of the structure was almost completely hidden by plant life, twisting this way and that in its effort to make itself at home.

The trees that had once stood trimmed by the sides of the road that led up to building were overgrown and wild, and many a root or fallen branch was trampled underfoot by the mechas as Perry and Junjie approached.

"Yeesh, look at that place!" exclaimed Perry as she looked up at the urban decay. "How the hell long has it been here?"

"Too long, apparently," Junjie said. "It's easy to see why a person would make this their hideout. I don't know why any person would willingly come to this place."

"Fancy 'artistic' photographers, JJ," said Perry. "Dumb fame-hungry ghost hunters too. Plus there's the silly goths who think places like this are edgy. You'd be amazed the kind of pretentious shite that can come from this cavern. I'd list more but we'd be here all week."

She rode her mecha over to a tree and parked behind it. When she stepped off, she rubbed her hand along the bark, which was black with an unsettling red sheen and flaked off under her fingers. The tree's glow had faded some time ago and, when she took her hand away, her glove was blackened with patches of red that bore a disturbing resemblance to blood. With a grimace of disgust, she wiped her hand on her leggings.

Junjie looked around again. This tree was only one of many along the edge of the clearing that had fallen into that twisted, corrupted-looking state. Dark water was somewhere nearby. That much was obvious.

"Do you know a way we can get in?" he asked as he dismounted.

"You ever been to a theatre before, lad?" Perry said. "Everyone knows about the main entrance, of course, but there's a back entrance for the cast and crew to get in through without being seen. It'll lead to a green room and dressing rooms and stage entrances to the actual theatre. I've been on enough dates to get familiar with theatre layouts. C'mon, this way."

She led her companion through the trees on the edge of the clearing the formerly empty theatre stood in the centre of, moving until they were around the side of the building, and sure enough, there was a door. Small, unassuming and somehow not as well boarded up as the main entrance.

"Who was right?" Perry said with a smug smile.

"And you think this one will be open?" asked Junjie.

"It better be," Perry said angrily.

Keeping bent down, even though they would probably be sighted if they weren't quick enough, the two hurried across the empty ground and halted in front of the door. Perry tried to turn the handle and tugged on the door, but it refused to open.

"Ach, crivens," she swore. "You've got to be having me on."

"Allow me," said Junjie.

He took a deep breath, steeling himself for the action he was about to take, and kicked the door just beside the lock with every drop of his strength. The wood splintered apart and the door exploded inwards, and swung squeakily on its rusty hinges.

Perry stared at it in amazement.

"Wow," she said. "Now I know I made a good choice hanging onto you."

Junjie couldn't avoid smiling with pride.

"We just have to hope nobody heard that," he said, and looked down into the opening he had just created.

The inside of the building was dark and smelled musty, with a set of dust and cobweb-coated stairs leading down into the gloom. Perry allowed Fury to jump into her hand and he ignited flames for himself to light their way.

"Aye," she said. "This place has _definitely_ seen better days."

"So it would seem," said Junjie, and he raised an arm to his face in an attempt to shield himself from the dust.

"Shall we head on in?" asked Perry. "You ain't afraid of ghosts, are you?"

"As long as you aren't afraid of the dark," said Junjie, "and judging by your aesthetic, I can assume you aren't."

Perry scoffed.

"Aye, it is a bit of a giveaway," she said with a grin, and together they stepped down into the gloom.

There was no way of telling how humid it was down there, but judging by how thick the air seemed, it was rather a large degree. Cobwebs dangled from the ceiling, hanging so low down that Perry had to carefully manoeuvre Fury around them to avoid igniting their thin, wispy threads. As they descended the stairs, dust poured from a crack in the ceiling and pooled on one of the stairs beside Junjie's foot. He found himself wishing he had a scarf or a handkerchief or _something_ that he could use to avoid inhaling this must.

As they descended, Perry wiped her finger along the wall, and grimaced again at the sight of the grime she had wiped off.

"I don't think anyone'll miss this place," she commented, once again cleaning her hand on her leg.

"I understand your feelings," said Junjie as they reached the foot of the stairs. "I don't even remember the last time I saw a place in such disrepair. If this is what the performer's area is like..."

He trailed off when he realised that the woman he was accompanying had frozen.

"Blue?" he said cautiously. "What's wrong?"

He prepped his blasters in anticipation.

"There is something on my head," said Perry.

Junjie narrowed his eyes in the darkness and saw, silhouetted against the light from the Infurnus, a dark shape standing writhing on top of the woman's loosened hair. It turned to face him and snarled, its red eyes glinting and sharp fangs shining in the flame light. Judging by the patterns on its little body, it had once been a Frightgeist, but it was pretty obvious that things had changed for it.

"It's a ghoul," he told her. "Don't panic, and whatever you do. Don't. _Move_."

"How am I supposed to not bloody panic when there is an evil bloody slug on top of my bloody head?!" Perry whispered hoarsely.

"Ssh," Junjie hissed. "Don't make any sudden moves."

"Easy enough for you to say!" Perry snapped. "You ain't the one with the little rage-filled monster making itself comfy on your head!"

"Ssh!" Junjie repeated.

Moving slowly, recalling every moment of his Slug Fu training, he reached up towards the ghoul sat on her head, which growled and snapped its needle-sharp teeth at his approaching hand. He curled his fingers into a fist and thanked himself for not exchanging his arm-mounted blasters for the more conventional Western handheld styles.

When the blade of his blaster was close enough, the ghoul leapt forward and wrapped its little fangs around it, at which point Junjie threw it off and it hit the wall and fell to the floor with a sad little thump. It got up, snarled at them again, then hopped away in the direction they presumably had to take.

Perry fell to her knees with the heaviest possible sigh. Fury crashed to the ground beside her and squeaked in alarm.

" _Thank you_ ," she breathed. "I don't know if you could tell but that was _freaking me out_."

"That fact was rather obvious," Junjie stated. "Are you alright?"

After heaving another sigh, Perry picked Fury from the ground, stood up and dusted off her knees.

"I'm fine," she said. "Let's push on."

The corridor at the bottom of the stairs was even duller and mustier-smelling than the stairs, but considering there was nowhere else to go, it was indeed the direction they had to take. The ragged remains of posters were peeling off the walls, their colours long since drained away by the moisture in the air and their scraps sat gathering mould in the corner between the walls and floor. Junjie was almost afraid to touch one for fear that he would pick up some deadly and incurable pathogen that would eat him from the inside out.

He then chastised himself for having such a ridiculously vivid thought.

The corridor came to an end at a more open space, where sat the mouldering, mushroom-studded remains of a desk with a dust-covered metal chair standing behind it, its seat cushion long since rotted away.

"Did they not even bother to take the furniture out?" asked Junjie as they passed it and entered another, far shorter corridor.

"I don't think many people would've cared about it much, lad," said Perry. "Not like there's a great market for used desks and chairs. And anyway, who the hell knows what the admin bloke was doing there?"

The shorter corridor led to another room, this one with wallpaper dangling off the walls in damp, slimy-looking strips and couches and chairs that seemed to have taken on lives of their own since the place was abandoned. Junjie could have sworn he saw something move in one of them, and wouldn't have been surprised if his eyes were _not_ deceiving him.

Perry paused, and Fury eyed her with curiosity.

"You hear that too, right?" she asked.

Junjie stopped in his tracks, and he realised that it could only have been their footsteps that prevented him from hearing a low pitched rumble, and even though it was covered in dust and grime and strewn cobwebs, he crouched down and rested his hand on the floor.

"The ground is vibrating," he reported, and lifted his hand away. "Not enough to cause a disturbance, but enough to make my fingers feel numb."

After a moment's contemplation, Perry drew her blaster and allowed Fury to hop into it.

"You got any ideas what we might be up against?" she asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Junjie had to force himself to keep his voice down.

"Have you already forgotten the reason I wanted the Shane lad?" Perry demanded. "'Coz I ain't sure what I'm going up against and I want someone who _does_ know! So I'll say it again: Do. You. Have. Any. Ideas?"

Junjie forced himself to not shout. The first part of their mission and it had already proved frustrating beyond belief.

"Eli told me that dark water was deep underground accessed with large drills," he reminded her, "and I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case here. It isn't impossible for Blakk's employees to have smuggled machinery into your realm during his regime, which I assume they have from the descriptions you and your friends gave, and if you are as distracted and destructive as Lenny made you sound-"

"Do you really wanna finish that sentence, lad?"

The calmness in her voice was chilling.

"No," Junjie decided. "In any case, I'm assuming that the largest part of this building is the theatre itself-"

"-so that'll be where they've set up a drill then," Perry concluded. "Either that or there's a bloody weird performance going on up there."

She approached a staircase equally as dusty as that which they had used to enter, and looked up to the top with her grip tightening on her blaster.

"Still," she said, "this is one time the show _mustn't_ go on."

With her back turned, Junjie considered it safe to roll his eyes. This woman was making Eli look downright subtle.

Slowly, her steps deliberate and careful, she began to ascend the stairs. Junjie followed her, hoping against hope that the steps wouldn't collapse under their feet, let alone creak. With the cracks that were running up and down and across the walls, it was a miracle the entire stairway hadn't fallen yet.

"If the door I presume is up ahead is locked," Junjie said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to kick this one in. It would draw too much attention."

"Then we'd have to find some other way through," Perry stated. "One way or another, we are getting into that theatre."

The rest of the ascent was in silence, save for their soft footfalls on the thankfully quiet and sturdy (enough) stairs. When they reached the very top, there was indeed a door awaiting them, and the pair had to physically restrain themselves from heaving sighs of relief when the handle turned and allowed them entry.

The low-pitched rumble had grown closer-sounding and much louder.

"This'll be backstage," Perry whispered.

Junjie nodded and prepped his blasters.

There was a squeak just loud enough to make the two flinch as Perry inched the door open, visibly cringing at the sound and pausing every now and then to listen for footsteps which thankfully never came. As soon as the door was open enough, she leaned through and looked around, then _slowly_ opened the door to the point that she and her companion could slip through.

"It looks like I was right," Junjie muttered.

From their position, hiding where the backstage met the wings, they could see all kinds of electrical equipment that had been set up on the stage. There were panels covered in buttons and sliding bars, thick cables criss-crossing all over the wood-panelled floor and where once there had been a backdrop, there was now a grid of a surprisingly small number of screens that depicted the area outside the theatre and the road leading to it.

"Ah, crivens," Perry muttered when she caught sight of the display. "What do you want to bet whatever scuggan's set up here saw us coming?"

Rather than replying, Junjie seized her around the waist and pulled her into the deepest shadows, just in time to avoid being seen by a woman who walked over to a panel and glared at it in frustration.

"Is that another of the brunettes you were talking about?" Junjie asked, so quietly that he was barely audible (thank goodness for the rumbling of the machinery).

Perry nodded.

The woman was tall, broad-looking, and her thin, stringy brown hair fell just past the nape of her neck and curved upwards to her brow. While her brown eyes remained focused on whatever work she was doing, Junjie noticed that where her left arm should have been, there was only a loose, empty sleeve, and what was visible of her right arm was withered and dark and a shiny shade of red. It was nauseating to look at. Almost as if her body was decomposing.

After a check of the screens, she turned and walked out of sight to the front of the stage. Junjie released Perry and they shuffled forward to get a better look.

The stranger walked up to the front of the stage and jumped down, and walked over to the centre of the audience area. The seating had been ripped from the ground and stacked against the wall to make space for an immense mass of steel that gleamed in the dim light from the screens. The only way it could be described was as resembling a gigantic electric mixer with the beater out of sight beneath the ground, and the rumbling seemed to grow louder as the hiding pair watched.

"That must be the drill," Junjie muttered.

"Aye," Perry replied. "Looks that way."

"It's larger than I'd anticipated," said Junjie. "We certainly won't be able to just push it over."

"Would make this all a damn sight easier if we could," Perry said bitterly.

As they watched, the woman picked up an empty barrel that had been lying on the floor and dragged it over to the drill, where she positioned it under a tap and turned it on, releasing a stream of glowing red liquid.

"Is she insane?!" Junjie had to force himself not to shout.

"Probably," said Perry, "but what makes you say that?"

"You saw the trees outside," Junjie recounted. "They're corrupted and twisted by the dark water. Eli told me how all of Blakk's employees would wear full-body protective equipment whenever they went anywhere near it. It's a _massive_ biohazard. Its mere presence in Slugterra is dangerous, more or less deadly, to anything that's alive."

The stream came to an end, and once the tap had finished dripping, the woman sighed and turned it off.

"But this woman," said Junjie, "is draining it with her bare hands."

The stranger put a lid on the barrel and dragged it around the other side of the giant machine.

"It doesn't look like she got much," Perry pointed out. "That can't be too bad, right?"

"I don't think it would take a huge amount," Junjie said grimly. "Dark water was never supposed to be in Slugterra. Ghouls were never supposed to exist. They're evil. Pure evil."

He heard Perry gulp.

"Glad you're optimistic," she murmured.

They drew further back into the wings, to where any person in the audience area wouldn't be able to see them.

"You're the one in charge here," said Junjie. "What's your plan? And if you don't have one, please be up front about it."

"Alright then," said Perry as she sheathed her blaster. "I don't have a plan."

Junjie didn't hide his sigh. At least she was honest about it.

"Alright," he said, "I know I'm not the one in charge here, but I think our first course of action should be-"

He stopped talking when the sound of blaster fire caught his attention, and judging by the look on her face, Perry had heard it too. She barely had time to splutter the word "Down!" before a flame soared over their heads and crashed through the wall.

"I know you're there!" shouted the woman they had been spying on. "Come out with your hands up! I have a Flatulorex and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"She's probably bluffing," Junjie muttered quickly. "That Flaringo she shot at us wasn't ghouled. I saw the light from its flame as it passed-"

"I dunno, JJ," Perry snapped as Fury took shelter inside her jacket, "that little shite what were on my head earlier looked pretty damn ghouled to me!"

"Which likely means she has more slugs than she can convert," said Junjie, mostly to himself. "Maybe the deposit of dark water that she hit is rather lacking..."

The blaster was fired again.

"You really wanna take a chance?!" shouted Perry, and both of them dived behind the collection of monitors to avoid being hit by the gaseous monstrosity. Before it could expand in their direction, they scrambled across to the other side of the stage and took shelter in the wings.

A pair of thumps alerted them to their attacker mounting the stage. The slugs in Perry's belt squeaked in fear.

"Ssh, it's alright," Perry whispered to them which did very little to calm their or her nerves.

"It'll be easier for both of you if you just give up," the woman called, and judging by her accent she was native to the 99 Caverns. "Come out with your hands where I can see them."

Junjie looked to Perry, about to ask what they were supposed to do now.

She winked at him.

Then she stepped out onto the stage, and Junjie could have sworn something inside his head exploded.

"Alright!" he heard Perry say, and he carefully looked round to watch as she stepped forward with her hands up. "You got me! You got me, I surrender!"

The woman stepped onto the stage, aiming a blaster at Perry's face.

"Please tell me that wink meant you're planning something," Junjie muttered.

"You're the McLinden," said the woman, apparently not noticing how her arm was dripping blood. "You're to the North what the Shane is to the 99 Caverns, and it's his fault my sisters and I had to come here!"

Perry cocked her head curiously.

"Don't give me that look!" the woman barked harshly. "Get on your knees, hands behind your head!"

"Okay," said Perry, and she put her hands behind her head and dropped to one knee. "Hands behind my head, okay..."

Junjie saw her left hand moving down her back, and Fury wriggled out of the back of her jacket and jumped up into her blaster.

"...like this?"

In a flash she drew and fired her blaster, and a blaze of reddish flames bowled the woman over and off the stage. In blind instinct her finger tightened on her trigger and she fired, and Junjie jumped from his hiding place and pushed Perry out of the way as she stood to dust herself off.

The ghoul hit him square in the chest and threw him into the bank of screens, and he fell to the stage floor in a shower of broken glass.

Almost instantly he felt his body tense up, his muscles screaming into his head for him to run as fast as he possibly could. He could hear his heart pounding, thumping in the back of his head and thundering in his ears. His body felt like it was on fire, like if he didn't move soon, he would explode.

He opened his eyes and saw the world fluctuating, rippling like the surface of an ocean, and the ripples opened to reveal spots and blotches of dark red that could only have been blood. Then the blood dribbled away, streaming down his vision and leaving flicking red flames in their wake. Flames that grew immense and hot and reached out to consume him, roaring in his ears almost as deafeningly as his heartbeat, and on the edge of his hearing he could have sworn somebody was calling his name, distant and muffled by the blazing inferno.

He rose, his feet slipping on the broken glass as a tight grip on his wrist pulled him through the flames. He couldn't see the face of whoever was pulling him, but the hands on his arm were blistering and bubbling from the heat of the surrounding blaze, and the nails elongated and dug into his arm and his blood gushed out and splattered into his face. In the midst of the fire he saw explosions, flashes of light which faded in an instant, but tried to ignore them and focus on freeing himself from the nightmarish talons that gripped his arm.

Then he fell, his hands and knees colliding heavily with the ground and kicking ash into his face, and all he could do was close his eyes and roll onto his back, the flames rising and filling his vision until all he could see was blinding white as his body burned and disintegrated into nothingness-

" _JUNJIE!_ "

-and then he opened his eyes again.

"Would you mind getting yourself together?" asked Perry.

The first thing he saw was her face. She was panting, out of breath, and her bangs were stuck to her forehead with sweat. He looked past her and noticed the empty, lifeless remains of a chandelier hanging from the unfamiliar ceiling, and under his fingers he felt a rough, seemingly heavy fabric.

"W-where are we now?" he asked hesitantly, the echoing images still lingering in his mind.

"In the lobby," Perry replied, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "That bitch thinks we've done a runner. Managed to block the entrances so's she can't come snooping. Plus I think I dealt a blow to the drill, so that'll keep her busy."

Junjie tried to sit up. He felt dizzy and washed out. Looking around and trying to get his bearings, he noticed an orangish-red light, and when he looked to Perry again, he saw she had regained Fury at some point as he was seated on her shoulder and providing them with light. It shone on the gold lining of what he now realised was a stripped-off curtain that he had been positioned on.

He rubbed his head, but immediately took his hand away as a bolt of pain shot through his fingers. When he looked, he saw small shards of glass embedded in his skin, surrounded by linings of blood. Residue from the broken screens, no doubt.

"Sorry about that," said Perry. "I don't know what the hell that slug she fired at you did, but you were freaking out. It sure as hell weren't easy getting you through here with her firing at us and me firing back and you thrashing about like you were on fire. I ain't moving from here until the rest of my slugs get back to me. Plenty of ways to get out that room besides the door and that scuggan doesn't seem to have noticed."

"H-how do you know they will?" Even breathing felt like something of a chore. "That woman... she'll catch them and..."

"The last thing I saw before I closed that door was her throwing Mike at me," Perry told him. "The only slugs I've got what're valuable to her are Fury and Barry, and I got both of them right here."

She lifted one side of her jacket up and revealed the Mistspitter, who waved at Junjie with a happy smile.

Junjie heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed back onto the curtain.

"Are you alright?" asked Perry.

"I will be," Junjie assured her, "as long as I can... get a moment's rest."

Perry pulled her hair away from her forehead with a peaceful smile and lay down next to him.

"Best idea I've heard all bloody day," she said.

As she made herself comfortable, Barry wiggled out of her jacket and hopped onto her chest next to Fury, and she gave him an affectionate rub on top of his head.

"I must admit," said Junjie, "I'm still unused to seeing slingers treasure their slugs like that."

"My job as McLinden is to defend all life in the Northern Caverns," Perry stated. "Last I checked, these things are alive. If we're going to be shooting them at folks at stupid miles an hour, the least we can do is treat them with respect. Hope you don't mind me quoting me mam there."

"You make your mother sound like a very sensible person," Junjie commented.

"Aye, she was," Perry agreed. "Up to the end, that is."

Ah.

Best stop the conversation here before it turned into something undesirable.

He pulled out one of the shards with his teeth, and thankfully the bleeding didn't last very long. Spurred on, he pulled out another, and a third, and it wasn't too long before his hands were bloodied, but free of glass.

"Thank you."

Junjie didn't bother asking what for. The stinging in his hands was making it rather obvious.

"There ain't a whole lot of people in these caverns what'd take a slug for a McLinden," said Perry. "Most of them are too scared to come near me."

"They fear the woman who protects them?" Junjie somehow managed to not sound alarmed.

"If one person was supposedly strong enough to defend multiple caverns," said Perry, "I think I'd be pretty bloody scared of them. You of all people should know it ain't an easy job. Didn't you ever see folks frightened of you even after you'd saved their arses?"

"To be honest, no," said Junjie, "but with how odd your fighting style is..."

He trailed off as Perry sniggered.

"In any case," he said, "you don't have to thank me. You asked for help, so I came to provide it. I wouldn't have been holding up my end of the bargain very well if I'd just let you get hit. Don't worry about my hands either. It's true that I need them for Slug Fu, but not to fire my blasters. So I'm still of near-perfect use to you."

He couldn't see, but he knew that Perry was smiling.

An odd, quiet, unidentifiable noise caught his attention, and presumably hers too, as she sat up and looked around for the source. She rolled off the curtain and knelt on the floor.

"See?" she said. "What'd I tell you? Here, let Keith wash your hands."

Junjie sat up as she picked the melanistic Aquabeek from the floor, and he obediently held out his hands. The little slug spat a small spout of water onto his hands and he rubbed them together, freeing himself of the blood and making the now-scabbed cuts easier to see.

"Thank you," he said. "So what are we going to do now? It wouldn't be a good idea to run in all blasters blazing."

"You won't believe this," Perry said with a smile as her arsenal jumped into her jacket. "I actually thought up a plan!"

'She makes that sound like a special occasion...' Junjie thought in exasperation.

"What I want you to do," said Perry, "is wait out here until I can cause a distraction and get that scuggan out of there. While she's out, you go in and you bust that bloody machine up. You can manage that, can't you?"

"Yes," said Junjie. "Rest assured that by tomorrow this woman, whoever she is, will _not_ be ghouling any more slugs."

Perry's smile was now confident and fierce, and she picked up her blaster from beside the fallen curtain.

"Remember," she said, "wait 'til after I start the distraction. You'll know it when you hear it!"

With that she ran, hurrying out of sight around a corner, and Junjie heard her footsteps ascending a stairway that curved above his head. The movement dislodged gilding flakes from the ceiling, which fluttered down like confetti and danced to the floor.

After waiting a few moments, he followed suit, ascending the stairs to a foyer, where he followed a corridor and came to the upper level of audience seating. From here he could see the stage, the drill and the woman who monitored them standing at a panel, occasionally glancing around at the theatre. Junjie ducked below the railing so that he couldn't be seen.

He almost jumped out of his skin when a ringing of audio feedback blared through the building.

 _"Cut to now, holy wow, when did everything become such a hell of a mess?"_

The voice could only have been that of Perry.

 _"Maybe now, maybe now can somebody come and take this off my chest?"_

Not only was her fighting style obvious based in dance, but her idea of a distraction was singing over an ancient tannoy system, the wiring of which could probably burn the building down.

 _"I know you think it's not your problem."_

She had a fairly decent voice, but this was ridiculous!

 _"I know you think someone'll solve 'em."_

Still, it seemed to be working. The brown haired woman had been standing in utter befuddlement, and now she grabbed her blaster from off the ground and charged to the still-blocked doors.

 _"But if your shit is not together it'll never be, you an' me, plant the seed, open up and let it bleed!"_

And then she fired, and the sounds of splintering wood and shattering ice signalled the end of the blockade.

 _"We are the people that you'll never get the best of, not forget the rest of, rest of..."_

Taking that as his cue, Junjie vaulted over the railing and landed as softly as a cat on the floor below. He never ceased to amaze himself with his physical abilities.

Speaking of which...

 _"We've had our fill, we've had enough, we've had it up to here!"_

The first thing he did was pull the containers of slugs away from the drill and open them up so that their contents could escape. An almost pitifully small number of slugs jumped out and started hopping away, with one little Armashelt pausing to hug Junjie's shoe in gratitude before leaving.

 _"We are the people that you'll never get the best of, not forget the rest of, rest of..."_

Two shots would be all he needed to finish the job.

 _"Just sing it loud until the kids will sing it right back!"_

Then there was the ring of the tannoy turning off.

By which point Junjie had already fired his Thresher and guided him to slice clean through every single cable connecting the drill to the equipment on the stage. He took a deep breath and fired Joo-Joo, once again admiring the sensation of Slugterra's magic coursing through his veins and pulsing in his mind, and guided the two slugs, one after the other, into the body of the drill.

The Thresher ate through the metal like it was paper, and Joo-Joo followed in quick succession. Junjie covered his face with his arms to shield himself from the heat of the explosion and ducked to avoid being hit by flying debris, but snatched his two slugs out of the air before they could be blown out of reach.

Oh dear.

That creaking noise did _not_ sound healthy.

How old was this building again?

Rather than stopping to think about it, Junjie turned and ran towards the audience entrance. If this place was going to come down, he was _not_ going to be inside when it happened.

"Sounds like you got the job done!"

He heard Perry shout as he reached the lobby and caught sight of her sliding down the railing of the stairway. She slammed a canister into her blaster and aimed at the building's main entrance.

"Let's see what you got, Graeme!" she yelled.

As she fired, Junjie let loose with a slug of his own - his Armashelt - and the pair demolished the doors and the plant life that had covered them. The stairways crashed to the ground as the two slugslingers ran through the opening as fast as their legs could carry them, not stopping until they reached their mechas on the edge of the treeline, and rather than stopping to watch the growing carnage, both mounted their rides and galloped away down the road.

"You did destroy the drill, right?" asked Perry.

"Of course I did!" Junjie replied. "I wouldn't have left if I hadn't!"

"Good!" said Perry, and she glanced back over her shoulder. "Wish Lenny could've seen that place. She loves old abandoned buildings."

"I doubt she would have enjoyed seeing that drill, though," said Junjie.

"Aye, good point," said Perry. "You think that woman made it out?"

"I don't know," said Junjie. "We have other things to focus on right now. Do we meet up with Lenny?"

"Aye," Perry confirmed. "Don't want to worry her."

Junjie nodded, and released a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

Who would have thought destroying heavy machinery could be so intense?

* * *

Porthos couldn't avoid frowning at the sight of the heap of plant-strewn rubble which was now all that remained of what had been her station. All she had left of her equipment was the communicator she held in her hand.

No use putting off the inevitable...

"Athos," she said into it, "I failed. The McLinden and her partner destroyed my drill."

"What?!" Athos was clearly enraged. "Unbelievable, you incompetent-"

"What should I do now?" Porthos asked.

"Go to Fogfall Island and meet up with Aramis," Athos commanded. "Will that be so hard for you to do? D'Artagnan and I are holding down Firewall Cavern and if I see you here, your ass is grass."

"...understood."

With no other options left, Porthos took her mecha from behind the tree where she had hidden it and rode away.

Behind her, the shadows arrived.


	6. Something I Need

Junjie winced.

"Sorry!" Lenny said quickly, and withdrew her fingers from his hands. "Did that hurt?"

"It's alright," Junjie hurriedly assured her. "It was just unexpected, that's all. I didn't realise how cold it would be. I've had worse. Far worse."

Lilac eyes wandered up and down his now bare arms.

"So I see," said Lenny, and she smeared the cold, semi-transparent cream across his hands. "I'm afraid this stuff won't work on those, but it should heal your hands by morning."

"Remind me again what I'm rubbing onto my hands," Junjie requested as he made sure to get an even coating all over his fingers and palms.

"It's a salve I made to heal minor injuries," Lenny explained. "Cuts, bruises, scrapes and the like. There's a little soap in there to kill off any infection before it sets in, plus a small amount of sedative to numb any pain."

Junjie froze, and glared at her suspiciously from beneath his lowered brow and loosened still-wet bangs.

"But what's the active ingredient?" he asked.

Lenny sighed and screwed the cap back onto the pot.

"People always get picky when they find out," she said. "Look, Denny caught a Boon Doc once, alright? And he had to sell it because not only was it a good slug, but that breed is especially rare. Not as rare as the Infurnus, but pretty close. But before he did, he managed to collect a good amount of its saliva."

Junjie blinked.

"What?" he said flatly.

"See? That's exactly what I mean!" Lenny complained as she dropped the pot back into the bag she had taken from her mecha. "There isn't anything wrong with it, Junjie! It's completely sanitary! If it wasn't, do you really think I would've offered you some? Son of a flopper..."

As she zipped up her bag, quietly grumbling to herself, Junjie looked down at his hands. She'd made a good point, and they definitely weren't hurting anymore.

He laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't very late in the evening, but he already felt exhausted. Whatever that slug in the theatre had done to him had sucked all his energy away.

"I will admit," Lenny said as she put her bag down next to the other bed, "I'm surprised it was you that needed the salve, considering I originally made it because a certain someone can't avoid throwing herself into a fight. And if she somehow can, she'll just make a fight for herself."

Junjie smiled and rested his head on his hands (because lying on a bed with wet hair isn't exactly the most comfortable experience).

"It seems like you know her rather well," he noted.

"Well, I have known her since I was six," Lenny informed him. "I don't mean to boast, but it's unlikely she'd be as formidable a slinger as she is today if it wasn't for me."

"Because you're a slug expert?"

"Partly." She opened a drawer in the cabinet that separated the two beds. "But mostly it's that if she didn't have someone around her age to keep her grounded, she would probably have got herself killed a hundred times over by now."

She paused in her rummaging.

"You've noticed her eyebrows, right?"

Junjie sat up, curious to where this conversation might lead if eyebrows was the opening.

"I have," he said. "I've noticed that they're a rather vibrant shade of orange while the rest of her hair is black, blue or purple."

"That's because I pointed out how the dye instructions said not to use it on eyebrows," said Lenny, and she pulled a selection of take-out menus from the drawer. "I know it's hard to believe, but she used to be a proper redhead. And her hair used to be so long she could sit on it while it was plaited!"

She sat down on the bed, seemingly lost in nostalgia.

"Really thick, too," she commented. "Mum would say she was surprised Perry slept with a duvet, considering her hair would probably do just as good a job. Of course now, it only barely comes down to her chin, but if that's what she wants, I'm not about to stop her."

Her smile grew somehow fonder.

"I still remember the first day we met," she said, her eyes wistfully wandering away from the menus. "I was down at the end of the back garden, looking at the nests of Firefloaters and seeing how their babies were growing, when this girl I'd never seen before came up to me and asked what I was doing. She looked just like my mother's friend, Ms Lizzy, except her eyes were bluer and her hair was in a plait. She was a whole year older and a whole inch taller, but she seemed pretty shy and nervous about speaking to me."

Junjie had to physically restrain himself from laughing. The thought of a woman whose idea of an SOS was reducing the inside of a seedy bar to smoldering ruins growing from a child who was 'shy and nervous' was almost too silly for words.

"But I showed her the slugs and she was fascinated," Lenny said happily. "She loved hearing me talk about them and explain what they were and their abilities and all the rest. We were almost always together after that. I know it's hard to believe, but she was honestly one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet. She always found reasons to be happy and to try to make other people happy. She hated getting angry and tried to think ages ahead when it came to fights. Up until..."

The smile disappeared.

"...up until one 26th of August," she said. "Since then, she loves finding reasons to get angry and always focuses on here and now, except for when she brings up the past and grudges. I don't think she'll ever realise just how much Ms Lizzy's death changed her. Not surprising, though. I doubt I'd be the same if I had to watch something like that."

Junjie frowned. What were these details of Lizzy McLinden's death that he wasn't allowed to be privy to?

He wasn't going to ask, of course. You don't demand information about that kind of subject. It's just rude.

"Anyway, what do you want for dinner?" asked Lenny, turning once again to the menus. "Since we're in Symphogna, I reckon we should have some local cuisine. How about lasagna? Or we could get pizza, if you want something more West oriented."

"I'll let you choose," said Junjie. "You're more familiar with this cavern than I am, after all. But shouldn't we ask Perry?"

"It's best not to," said Lenny, and she picked up her back again to rifle through it. "Unless you like having half your taste buds burned off."

Even so, it would be rude not to at least ask what she would prefer, so Junjie got off the bed and stretched his back.

"Where're you off to?" asked Lenny.

"To find-"

"Perry's on the roof. She always goes up to the roof when we're in Symphogna."

'Why?' Junjie wondered. 'What's so appealing about the roof? She doesn't seem the type to enjoy a view.'

His curiosity piqued and confusion rising, Junjie left the room just as Lenny pulled a wallet from her bag, and he didn't take long to find the stairs that would lead him to the roof.

As he ascended, a noise reached his ears that was different from his footsteps and the quiet creaks of the building adjusting itself.

Music.

There was singing, but it was too muffled to make out any lyrics.

Of course there would be music. He remembered this as he approached the door labeled 'Roof Access'. The ladies had referred to this cavern as Slugterra's Cultural Cornocopia, so without any kind of background noise - the crashing crescendos of an orchestra, the shouts of actors on a stage or ringing of a singer's voice into an auditorium - but as he got closer to the door, it became clear that the main instrument in this case was a guitar.

He opened the door upon reaching it.

" _...stayed awake and stared at you so I wouldn't lose my mind._ "

It was a moment before he saw her, and then he stopped and stared.

" _And I had the week that came from hell._ "

She was somehow perfectly balanced on one leg while the rest of her body was curled inwards, and as the drumbeat began, she unfurled and leaned backwards, still balanced, outstretching her other leg while reaching up towards the cavern roof.

" _And yes, I know that you could tell._ "

With her arms still raised, she lowered her leg and gently spun to one side, her eyes closed and faintly smiling.

" _But you're like the net under the ledge..._ "

She slowly brought one arm down, still standing on her toes.

" _...when I go flying off the edge..._ "

It was odd to think that a boisterous woman like her could be capable of such graceful movements.

" _...you go flying off as well._ "

She dropped down from her toes and spun away. Junjie moved closer to get a better look, hoping she wouldn't notice him.

" _And if you only die once, I wanna die with you've-_ "

She suddenly jumped.

" _-got something I need._ "

Touching down as softly as a cat, she spun again, raising her arms to the side and kicking one leg up into the air.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me._ "

Then she leaned back, still on one leg, and propped herself on the ground with her still-gloved hand.

" _And if we only die once..._ "

Somehow it was only now that Junjie noticed a spiderweb tattooed on her neck. How many other tattoos did she have, he wondered.

" _I wanna die with you._ "

Her one-handed backflip was similar to that she had performed the first time he had watched her fight, but now she was slow, calm and far more elegant.

" _You've got something I need._ "

The way she moved was strange, considering this was quite plainly a rock song of sorts, and yet she seemed perfectly attuned to the rhythm.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me._ "

It wasn't hypnotic, per se, but it was rather hard to stop watching her.

" _And if we only die once..._ "

It was as though the removal of her jacket and belts had halved her weight. She seemed almost as light as the air itself.

" _I wanna die with you._ "

Now she stood with her arms outstretched on either side, her back to the doorway Junjie stood in, and she was raising her leg again, but this time it was clear that she was going to fall. Intentional or not, it would definitely hurt.

" _Last night I think I drank too much._ "

So he ran forward and caught her by the shoulders.

" _Call it our temporary crutch._ "

Alarmed, she shook herself from his grip and briefly looked on the verge of fighting, but sighed and rolled her eyes when she noticed who it was.

Ah. She _had_ meant to fall, and probably had plans for when that happened. And now Junjie had come in and messed it up.

" _With broken words I tried to say 'Honey, don't you be afraid..._ "

Embarrassed at his mistake, he looked away from her, searching for the source of the music.

" _...if we got nothing, we got us'._ "

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something close to him and blue.

Perry was offering him her hand.

" _And if we only die once, I wanna die with..._ "

Though he was skeptical, he took it.

" _You've got something I need_."

Before he had a chance to react, she spun in towards his body, and then out again, never once letting her fingers leave his. It seemed that like it or not, he was now her partner.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me._ "

She twirled under his arm and then rested her other hand on his shoulder, in a pose he recognised all too well.

" _And if we only die once_..."

So he took her waist and led her backwards, with her literally following in his footsteps.

" _I wanna die with you._ "

Was this his punishment? He'd disturbed her routine, so now he had to become a part of it?

" _You've got something I need_."

Her smile was sly and playful, her eyes glinting like lumino ore, but somehow she didn't give off the air of smugness that Junjie was used to feeling when someone was trying to make him suffer.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me._ "

She stepped away, still keeping their hands connected, and she lifted one of his hands up and stepped under his arm.

" _And if we only die once..._ "

But Junjie was having none of it. He span around so that he was facing her again, one hand holding hers and another on her waist, while she kept her other hand free.

" _I wanna die with you._ "

So yes. This was happening now.

" _I know that we're not the same._ "

And even as he tried to take control of the situation, Perry's smile grew even wider.

" _But I'm so damn glad that we made it to this time... this time... now..._ "

And against all the odds, Junjie didn't feel angry or embarrassed anymore.

" _You've got something I need_..."

He understood now why she would appear so much lighter. As he danced, he could barely even feel his feet on the ground anymore.

" _Yeah, in this world full of people, there's one killing me..._ "

Somehow he felt free.

" _And if we only die once, I wanna die with... you..._ "

Somehow he felt _happy_.

" _You've got something I need._ "

Normally feelings like this only came to him in combat. A feeling of focus on a single entity and goal, never wavering from his path, knowing exactly what was happening and how it was going to benefit him.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me._ "

And now... he knew what he was doing and who he was doing it with, and an energy was flooding through him the likes of which he hadn't experienced in a long time.

" _And if we only die once, I wanna die with you._ "

He still had no idea where the music was coming from.

" _You've got something I need._ "

And at the moment, he didn't care.

" _In this world full of people, there's one killing me_."

Maybe she was feeling something similar, as at some point she had started to laugh. It wasn't what could be called a light giggle, but surely that was to be expected by now.

" _And if we only die once, I wanna die with you._ "

They were spinning together again. Faster than ever.

" _And if we only die once, I wanna die-_ "

She suddenly twirled out, still holding his hand.

" _And if we only live once..._ "

When she spun in, she collided heavily with his chest.

" _I wanna live... with you._ "

And with that the song finally came to an end, and Perry laughed harder than ever as she broke away from her impromptu dance partner.

"Never would've thought you had that in you!" she chuckled as she walked over to the railing that surrounded the rooftop. "If I'd known you could dance like that, I would've come and snatched you up eons ago!"

As she giggled, Junjie walked over to the railing and looked over it, and at last he found that the source of the music had been a band playing down in the street below. Their performance seemed to be over, as they were packing their instruments away and taking pictures with gathered fans, but Perry retained her giddy smile nonetheless.

"Is this..." Junjie searched for appropriate words. "...is this regular? Do you often seek solitude just to dance?"

"It weren't about solitude, lad," Perry replied. "This here roof's got way more space than that tiddly little room down there. You couldn't even do a pirouette without knocking the lamp over! 'Sides, you can hear way more up here than you could down there."

She looked over her shoulder, down at the band below as they picked up their cases and departed.

"I know if I were some bigjob manager guy, I sweep those lads up right away," she commented. "Serious talent they got going on there."

"Indeed," said Junjie. "I apologise for interfering. It's fairly obvious now that you know what you were doing, but we couldn't continue our mission very well if you brained yourself on this ground."

Perry snorted in laughter.

"Aye," she said, "it's true death drops ain't for the faint of heart. You wouldn't believe the kinds of horror stories I hear about show-offs getting themselves hurt 'coz they didn't know the proper landing technique. It's plain and simple: not everybody is cut out to be me."

Junjie couldn't avoid smiling. That had sounded like something Pronto might say, but somehow the way she said it sounded more convincing than that molenoid could manage.

"You could've told me you could dance," she added. "I mean, I wouldn't have trusted you sooner or anything, but I'd've kept it in the back of me mind somewhere."

"I've never considered myself much of a dancer," said Junjie, "but I know plenty about control of one's limbs and movements."

"That Slug Fu?"

"Yes. It is mostly due to 'that Slug Fu'. I've trained in the art for long enough to apply it to uses other than combat."

Perry smiled again, and Junjie couldn't avoid noticing how she seemed adamant on not looking at his arms.

Odd.

"So," he said, deciding it would be best not to raise the subject, "which came first?"

"What do you mean?" Perry asked.

"Were you a dancer who took up slugslinging?" Junjie elaborated. "Or were you a slugslinger who incorporated dancing into her fighting style?"

"Latter, lad," said Perry. "I must've already told you I've been training for defense of this realm since I were six, but I didn't start dancing 'til I were about twelve. That's when Mam started cranking on the pressure and I needed something to let off steam, 'coz when I tried getting my anger out through fighting-"

"It made you reckless and uncoordinated," Junjie realised.

Perry raised an eyebrow in a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"How long have you been at this job, JJ?" she asked. "You asked me how old I am, but you haven't said how old you are. Older than me, I'll bet."

Junjie had to double-check her face to make sure she was being serious.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you my age," he said, and looked back down at the people milling around in the street below. "Suffice to say that due to circumstances beyond my control, I may not appear it, but I am _much_ older than you."

He could feel her eyes scanning up and down his body again.

"You certainly don't look it," she said.

When he looked back to her, she wore a coy little smile.

"What?" she asked. "It's true! You don't look a day over twenty-five, lad. Hell, if I'd just seen you standing around and not fighting or anything, I'd probably think you were younger than me!"

"I..." Junjie felt a little lost for words. "I'll... take that as a compliment."

"Aye, you'd better."

That sly smirk remained in place. With her make-up now completely washed off and her loosened hair now puffy and thick-looking (indicating that Lenny hadn't been lying) since drying from her evening shower, she looked... odd. Certainly not worse, but still different.

"Thank you," he said.

"It was only a dance, love," Perry scoffed. "Not like I married you or anything."

"Not for that," said Junjie. "For saving me back in the theatre. It would have been far easier for you to have left me at the mercy of that woman, but you put yourself in danger by slowing yourself down, carrying me with you. Forgive me, but it's been quite a long time since I met a person willing to do something like that."

Perry's smile became peaceful. Still she kept her eyes fixed on his face.

"I would say it was just 'coz I need your help to save my caverns," she said, and her voice sounded oddly calm, "but Mam didn't raise no liar. You're a decent bloke, JJ. Slugterra's never had enough of those."

"That's why you chose to save me?" asked Junjie. "Because you think I'm nice?"

" _Duh_ ," Perry replied flatly. "Why else would you agree to come along with me? I know as much as the next lass that I can be one hell of a bitch sometimes. I make up for it by being awesome and sexy, but fancy fighting and a gorgeous arse aren't going to stop these scuggans destroying me caverns, are they?"

Now it was Junjie's turn to smile.

"How're your hands?" she asked.

Junjie looked down at his palms. Already the cuts seemed to be healing; the scabs had darkened to near-black and they were surrounded by fresh and shiny pink skin.

"They'll be fine," he said, and he flexed his fingers cautiously. "Given enough time, they may even be better than before. I did make sure to thank Lenny for her salve."

"Good," said Perry. "You'd never hear the end of it if you didn't."

In a theatre somewhere not far off, the tones of a piano began drifting out, and the female slinger was unable to avoid swinging her finger from side to side in time with its slow, peaceful beat.

"The 'fancy fighting' you mentioned may save your caverns," Junjie commented when he noticed. "I have the excuse that I have practised Slug Fu since I was a small child, but if I were an opponent and I saw you in action, I would likely be more tempted to start playing accompanying music than to fight back."

Perry giggled, but was cut off by a heavy knock on the door they had entered the area through.

"Are you two quite finished?!" Lenny demanded. "There's plenty of food for me to have on my own if you don't want any!"

It was clear Perry would have responded with something sarcastic, but she was cut off again; this time by the grumbling of her own stomach.

"Indeed," said Junjie. "I suppose I'm rather hungry too."

"Shut up," Perry grumbled, and she plodded over to the door.

* * *

There was, in fact, more than enough salad to go around.

Not that Fury had noticed, as he was sitting at the edge of the bowl, growling at any slug that dared try to approach.

Even meek little Barry, who squished his way up to the bowl to make a request for just one leaf of lettuce, was met with a swift tomato to the head which bounced off and was caught by the smug Infurnus, who took a large bite of the red fruit just to rub it in.

So caught up in his smugness was he that he didn't notice Joo-Joo scaling the other side of the bowl, and didn't even hear him climbing through the salad until it was too late. The reddish slug got a mouthful of flame on the back of his head for his trouble, causing him so much shock that he leaped right out of the bowl and faceplanted on the top of the cabinet.

The guardian disposed of, the elder Infurnus happily invited the rest of his and the other slinger's arsenal up to share, while Fury sat moping in the shadow of the bowl and listened to the happy crunching of leaves between teeth.

The spectacle did not go unwatched.

"Glad to see _somebody_ enjoying the salad," Lenny said not-so-quietly.

"I shan't deny my lack of affinity for those kinds of foods," Junjie said simply.

"Aye, what are we, rabbits?" asked Perry. "I'd rather be caught dead than eating spinach."

"Perry," said Lenny, "you would eat anything if it was doused in curry sauce."

"Even spinach?" asked Junjie.

"Even spinach," Lenny confirmed. "The first time she tried chicken pizza one time she was staying overnight with my family in Bootleg Cavern, she didn't like it. But then Dad poured some curry sauce on it and she ate five slices. And spent a majority of the next day with a nasty gut ache."

"In my defence, it was findaloo and I had asked for vindaloo," said Perry, "and Fs and Vs sound pretty similar when your mouth is full of pizza stuff."

While the conversation continued, Junjie picked up the empty boxes from their dinner and carried them to the bin.

"I still find it hard to believe you ate so much in one go," Lenny said. "I think that's what gave you a stomach ache more than the curry."

"Missions can leave you hungry, Lenny," Perry told her. "And I know you're brains rather than brawn, but you get it, right?"

"Of course I get it," said Lenny. "It's just plain bizarre that you would eat _that much_ and not think twice about it until it had come back to bite you."

"Oi, I bite food, not the other way 'round!" Perry snapped, and she and Lenny dissolved into giggles at the silliness of the quip.

"Excuse me, ladies?"

The giggles ended when they noticed how apprehensive their third party member was.

"Am I the only one to have noticed that we are three people sharing a two-bed room?" asked Junjie.

"Sorry about that," Lenny said. "All the three-bed rooms were booked."

"S'alright, JJ," Perry said cheerfully, "you can share a bed with me!"

Junjie stared.

"What?" he said.

"Trust me, it's for the best," said Lenny. "If anybody was to share a bed with me, one or both of us would end up on the floor. Upside down. And snoring."

"I ain't gonna try anything, I promise," said Perry, and she slipped under the covers and pulled them back to make room. "It's a double bed, there's plenty of room for both of us!"

Junjie turned a raised eyebrow in Lenny's direction.

"I once had a dream where I was competing in an athletics championship," she said, "and when I woke up, I had pulled all the sheets off the bed, including the one fitted over the mattress, and I was lying on it the wrong way round with my feet on the pillows. So unless you want a black eye to add to that collection of yours, you'd better bed down with Perry."

On cue, Perry patted the empty side of the bed.

There really didn't seem to be any other options, since this carpet was far too rough and hard to sleep on.

Resigned to his fate, Junjie climbed under the sheets next to Perry and tried to get comfortable.

"If you hear Lenny talking in the night, try to ignore it," the slinger advised as she settled down. "Especially if it has anything to do with frog people."

Whatever that implied, Junjie decided he didn't want to find out.

He tucked himself under the covers, finding the mattress far softer than he had expected, and once he had made himself comfortable, Perry reached for the lamp.

"You'd all better get some sleep too, lads," she said to the slugs as they finished off what was left of the salad. "We'll be heading off to Firewall Cavern tomorrow, so you'll have to be up bright and early."

She flicked off the lamp and plunged the room into darkness, broken only by what little light seeped in through the drapes over the window.

* * *

"Athos?"

She looked round at the sound of her younger sibling's voice.

"What is it now, d'Artagnan?" she asked.

"They can destroy our drills now," d'Artagnan pointed out. "They can destroy everything we've set out to do. How are we supposed to stand up to them?"

"It was sheer luck that they managed to bring down Porthos' establishment," Athos lied. "That structure was falling apart at the seams. We shouldn't have trusted it."

D'Artagnan rubbed their neck. It seemed to be getting worse every day.

"Athos," they said, "I don't want to die."

For several seconds, the woman was silent.

"I know," she said eventually. "Neither do I."

She walked over to the frightened teen and pulled them into a hug.

"But if we're going to," she snarled, "we're taking Slugterra with us."


	7. Wanted Dead or Alive

The music now playing was slow and elegant sounding, like the drifting of a snowflake in a light breeze as it tumbles ever so slowly to the ground. A violin, playing a sweet and somewhat soothing melody, backed by larger and longer stringed instruments that gave the tune a feeling of peace and ambiance. A perfect tune for a string ensemble. It was muffled by distance and by the walls of the orchestra hall it was being played in, but still audible enough to be heard on the hotel roof.

Rather fitting, Junjie considered, as leaned on his back leg with his hands before him, not quite in time to the music, but slow enough to almost fit.

Even with the entirety of the building beneath his feet, he could still feel the magical energy of Slugterra flowing through his body - through his arms and out between his hands, up and down the length of his legs, circulating in his body and head - and as he moved, he took notice of his slugs, echoing his movements on the ground nearby.

He concentrated, and picked up the presences of the slugs that were still residing in the forest, between and under and in the branches of the trees that stretched into the distance, yet were only a stone's throw from the edge of the town. There were a good deal of Flaringoes in there, as well as a number of Armashelts, Tazerlings and Rammstones, and he found a pocket of Frostcrawlers not far from where the abandoned theatre had stood.

Curious, he probed deeper, and found that in the ruins and rubble, there was not a single living being remaining.

So either that woman had been killed in the collapse or she had found her way out, and considering how she was apparently adept enough to have set up the ghouling machinery all by herself, the latter seemed far more likely than the former.

At least all the slugs were free too. And if there were any ghouls left in the forest, the Shadow Clan were sure to deal with them appropriately.

There was another person behind him, watching him from the nearby doorway, and he knew who it was without needing to look round.

"I assume you slept well?" he asked.

"Well enough," said Perry. "Did you know you make funny noises while you sleep?"

Junjie almost faltered.

"No I did not," he said calmly. "If I am asleep, how would I be able to tell?"

"Aye," Perry confirmed, "you were sort of snuffling and squeaking. It was pretty cute."

Was she trying to psyche him out of his concentration? Because if she was, it wasn't working.

"Is Lenny awake yet?" he asked.

"She's getting there," said Perry. "Last I checked she'd managed to drag herself up into a sitting position, and that's usually a good sign."

"I had no idea it was possible for any person to sleep with their head hanging off the side of the bed," Junjie commented. "Or cuddling the bedframe like it was a stuffed animal."

"That's Len for you," Perry scoffed. "You'd be amazed at the positions she works herself into during the night."

Having finished with his practise, Junjie straightened up, and he and his slugs bowed to one another.

"Do you count that as your breakfast?" asked Perry, whom he noticed was already fully dressed and made-up, but still with messy hair. "Or will you be wanting summat to eat?"

"Slug Fu is no substitution for food," Junjie said as he walked to the doorway. "While it's true that my body and mind become synchronised with the magical energy of Slugterra and all of its inhabitants, they don't provide me with sustenance. Besides, I was already rather hungry before I began."

"Then why didn't you eat first, you numpty?" Perry laughed as they entered.

"Because I didn't think to," said Junjie. "Has that never happened to you? Have you never accidentally forgotten to eat?"

"Aye, I'll admit it," Perry said, shrugging as they started descending the stairs. "I'd skip a meal if I got too far into a rhythm. Sometimes I'd even forget to use the loo."

"What?"

"That never happened to you? You get distracted and then, like, hours later you think 'Oh aye, I needed to pee, guess I better get to that'."

"Not... not exactly."

Perry sniggered.

"Maybe I am the only one then," she said. "Guess I'll ask Lenny about it once she's 'roused."

Somehow, Junjie couldn't avoid smiling with her.

This woman really was bizarre.

* * *

Once their stomachs were filled and their minds fully awakened, the trio saddled up and, just like that, they were leaving Symphogna Cavern behind.

"So where do we go now?" asked Junjie.

"Well," said Lenny, "since it's abundantly clear that neither me nor Perry wants to go to Fogfall Island anytime soon-"

"Nor do I want to ever!" Perry snapped.

"-we're going to Firewall Cavern," Lenny finished flatly.

"Is there any particular reason it's called Firewall Cavern?" asked Junjie. "I can only assume it doesn't have anything to do with computers or viruses."

"No," Lenny said, "try volcanoes and lava springs."

Junjie was taken aback.

"And people live there?" He couldn't avoid feeling alarmed.

"Not _live_ , you doofus," said Perry. "Nobody could live for very long in a place like that. It'd be sweltering!"

"Geothermal power stations," Lenny explained. "Not everything can run on magic. Firewall Cavern is the source of a good deal of power for the Northern Caverns, as well as a heck of a lot of other regions as well. Nobody ever seems to give them credit. But you're wrong, Perry: there are some people who live there when they don't have anywhere else to go."

"And they're nuts," Perry said.

Lenny just rolled her eyes.

"And what's so significant about Fogfall Island?" Junjie asked. If even the seemingly near-fearless Perry was afraid of this place, it had to be something unpleasant.

Both young women gulped.

"It ain't nice," said Perry.

"It really isn't nice," said Lenny.

"Let's just say," Perry said, "until the Companimole brothers set up the ferry, folks who went to Fogfall Island tended not to come back."

"Companimole brothers?" Junjie felt confused again.

"Aye," Perry replied. "John, Quincy and Adam Companimole. Triplets what set up a ferry to take adrenaline-junkie and ghost hunter morons to the island and back. They actually get lots of business thanks to those dumb scunners. Still, they tend to come back pretty quick-smart. It's been years since anyone dared to spend the night, and even then it were a bunch of dumb bairns what got drunk."

Satisfied, another thought occurred to Junjie. He applied his brakes just enough to fall back and draw level with Lenny.

"If you're truly her oldest friend, you must know why she uses such odd colloquialisms," he pointed out.

"Yes," said Lenny. "Why, do you want to know what they mean? I'm not surprised, it can get a little confusing to those who haven't met someone from Highland Cavern before."

"Good. So..."

"Okay, first off, 'bairn' just means, like, child or young person, so if she's calling someone a bairn, it means they're a kid, and if they're a wee bairn, it means that she thinks they're a little kid."

"But she calls Eli a 'wee bairn' and at sixteen-"

"-in Perry's case, it's often just a general term for someone who isn't eighteen yet or someone noticeably younger than her. She'd never call me a bairn because a lot of people mistake me for being older or the same age as her."

"I see," said Junjie. "And what's a scunner?"

"The best way to put it," said Lenny, "would just be to say 'unpleasant person'. Scuggan is similar, but usually somewhat worse. So if she calls someone a scunner, she doesn't like them, and if she calls someone a scuggan, she _really_ doesn't like them and doesn't think you should either."

"Understood."

"If she says 'blethers' it generally just means nonsense."

"And what about crivens? I can only assume that's a curse word of some sort."

"Well... yes and no."

"What does that mean?" Junjie was puzzled.

"I would count it as a curse, but mostly it's just an exclamation," Lenny explained. "In Perry's case, it can mean anything from 'I just tripped on a loose stone' to 'duck before you get hit by a slug' or 'I have just been woken up at half past three in the morning after I stayed up late practicing my dance moves and now there is going to be trouble'."

"Oi, shut up!" Perry called from up ahead as Junjie quietly laughed. "You should know by now that if you wake me up in the middle of the night, you pay with your blood!"

Junjie covered his mouth and tried to stifle his amusement.

"There's one other term which I think is important to know about," Lenny said once the male slinger had regained his composure, "though I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard it from her yet."

"What is is term?" asked Junjie.

"It's 'geas'," Lenny told him, "and before you say 'Isn't that some sort of bird?' it's a Highland word. If you're put under a geas, it means you're made to take a vow, to make a promise that you can't ever break and you should under no circumstances avoid fulfilling. If you break a geas, you break the trust of the person who put it on you."

There was silence for a moment - save for the rhythmic thumping of mechabeast feet and the echoing wildlife that surrounded them - as Junjie thought this over.

"But..." he said slowly, "...but why would you want to place someone under such a burden?"

"Usually the duty under a geas is just something like 'don't die' or 'win the fight," Lenny said helpfully. "Perry doesn't do it very often, so if she does, it's important. Though in her case, it's probably most likely to be 'down this entire bottle of scotch and I'll give you the rest of my curry'."

"...what?"

"She did that once to her last boyfriend, or at least tried it, but he wasn't stupid enough to actually accept it."

"No wonder. That would make a person horrifically sick."

"But I wish he had done it!" Perry called. "I wish he'd drunk a whole barrel of scumble! It would've killed his brain from the inside out and then he'd just be a vegetable! Maybe then I wouldn't have had to look at his dumb, horrible face and listen to all those stupid songs he wrote! Or maybe it would've gone one better and made him horrifically DEAD!"

She seemed to be giving off an aura of seething rage and even from behind, it was clear she was gripping her handlebars far tighter than she needed to.

"Let me guess," said Junjie, "bad break-up?"

"You have _no_ idea," said Lenny.

And judging by her tone, Junjie decided, he didn't want to know.

* * *

The hours dwindled away as the caverns they passed through grew brighter in colour and more and more lively, and the air grew warm and even more filled with the sounds of wildlife. Whether it was the time of the day ticking down and getting closer to noon or the three riders drawing closer to a cavern apparently massively volcanic, Junjie was uncertain, but he was admittedly glad for the change. It was familiar. Almost resembling the caverns of the West.

Still not quite as warm as parts of his homelands, but temperate enough.

"Are we still on the right track?" he asked out of necessity.

"We ain't too far from Firewall now," Perry replied. "Don't be worrying your pretty little head, JJ: Mam would take me all over the North when I were wee, so I know me caverns better than the back of me hand! 'Course that don't mean I don't need Benny's maps now and again, but I still know enough to get around, you ken?"

Junjie was about to show he understood, but...

"What did you just call me?" he demanded.

"Oh boy..." Lenny muttered.

"What do you mean?" Perry said innocently. "I didn't call you anything!"

"Yes you did!" Junjie exclaimed. "You said not to 'worry my pretty little head'!"

"Well if you know what I said, why did you bother asking what it was?" Perry asked with a noticeable smile in her voice.

"Because I want to know why you would call me something like that!" Junjie almost shouted, while Lenny broke down in giggles.

"Are you saying you don't think you're pretty?" Perry grinned.

"I never really pay a great deal of attention to it," Junjie said.

"Why not?" asked Perry. "Don't you want people to think you're attractive?"

"When I'm in the middle of a mission, I don't exactly carry a make-up bag with me!" said Junjie. "Not all of us want to be able to kill men with their lipstick!"

"Oh, you like me lipstick, do you?" Perry asked. "If you wanted to borrow some, all you have to do is ask!"

Now she was just being deliberately annoying, wasn't she? It was obvious with how much Lenny was giggling and the massive grin Perry was wearing.

Junjie rolled his eyes, but still somehow felt himself smiling. It felt like forever since he had partaken in this kind of banter.

"In any case," Perry said, "we really don't have too much further to go. This track leads to a crossroads, and there'll be one road that leads to the ferry Westward, one that goes to Bootleg Cavern and one that'll lead us to Firewall. We'll be wanting the centre path, because the ferry road is on the left and Bootleg on the right, you ken?"

Ken? He'd only noticed it now that she'd used it a second time; what in the world did 'ken' mean?

"Do you understand?" Lenny clarified.

"Oh. Oh, yes," Junjie responded, realising that 'ken' seemed to mean 'know'.

"Right, so make sure you stick with us," Perry said. "You remember what happened last time we were in this general region, right? So keep your eyes and ears peeled. We don't know when some other bastard scuggan is going to come to try and mess us up."

"They'd better not," Lenny said bitterly. "There's no way I'm letting you drag me into a blazing fight!"

True to Perry's word, a crossroad was visible up ahead, with a signpost standing at the intersection of the four tracks and an arrow-shaped sign pointing down each path. And also true to her word, they didn't slow down, continuing straight on down the central road and ignoring the two on either side.

But as they continued riding, something else came into view.

"Oh aye, look sharp," Perry said. "Looks like we've got other blethers to deal with."

Junjie leaned to one side to look past her and see what she was talking about, and saw a large crowd of people of varying ages, races and genders walking in their direction, either on the road or on each side of it. A majority were wearing boiler suits of some kind and many seemed unable to walk without the support of others.

And when they saw the approaching mechabeasts, their faces lost their despondency and became significantly more alert.

"It's the McLinden!" one man shouted.

"Perry McLinden's here!" called a woman.

"Look alive, it's Miss McLinden!" seemed to be the running theme as the large group collectively tried to smarten themselves up and the trio slowed to a halt to observe.

"You seem to be rather popular," Junjie commented.

Perry shrugged.

"Comes with the job," she commented, and she dismounted to face the crowd properly.

"What's all this about, then?" she asked, her voice loud and notably commanding. "I'm guessing by your clothes that you lot are all from Firewall, aye?"

"Yes, miss," said one, a boy who couldn't have been much younger than Eli. "It's not safe there anymore, miss."

"Why's that?" asked Perry. "I've heard about folks getting sick, but surely that ain't so bad you all have to evacuate, is it?"

"It got far worse," explained one woman who was cradling a dozing toddler. "My Alex could barely breathe back there and his fever was through the roof! We don't know if it's anything to do with the strangers who rode in a few days ago-"

"Strangers?" Perry cut in. "Brown haired, wearing dark clothes with these eldritch-looking glowing Vs?"

"That's right, miss," said the teen boy, whose voice was raspier than the last time he'd talked. "They went into one of the empty stations and they set up some kind of machinery. We don't know what it was but it's noisy, and something about it-"

He trailed off into a coughing fit and had to be supported by a nearby man who was already holding a workmate over one shoulder.

"Do you think it may have been some sort of drill?" asked Junjie.

His question sparked several moments of muffled discussion. Somewhere near the back of the crowd, a baby started crying.

"It sounded rather like a drill..." one man mentioned.

"We weren't going anywhere near it though," a woman with dark smudges on her face said to Perry. "Not near the Baldur station."

"And what's up with the Baldur station?" asked Perry. "Last I heard, it was one of the best in the cavern."

"It's too powerful!" exclaimed a middle-aged man whose balding hair was already near-white. "Volcanic instability, that's what it is! We may be Slugterra's power source, but I'm not putting my employees at risk of exploding just for the sake of Bootleg folks getting their afternoon tea!"

"Please try to calm down, Emil!" a woman said to him in hushed anger. "You don't want to bring on your trouble again, do you?"

"And now those morons set up even more machinery - machinery that's somehow made plenty of us sick - when that building could explode and roast them any moment!" shouted Emil, who then dissolved into a coughing fit.

The woman next to him passed him a handkerchief and he gratefully accepted it and coughed into it heavily.

"Can you tell me where in your cavern the Baldur station is?" asked Perry. "If I'm going to deal with this problem, I have to know where I'm needed."

"It's on the Western border," explained the woman now helping Emil stay standing. "Not too far from the coast. Please, Miss McLinden-"

"I know," said Perry. "Those of you who need medical attention, I assume I don't need to tell you where you need to go to get it. There's plenty of doctors in Ludgate, Ignobel and Thorgard Caverns who'll be able to see to you. If money's an issue, I'll make sure it isn't once this has all blown over. My colleagues and I will head to Firewall Cavern now to sort this all out and it shouldn't take us a great deal of time, so all of you keep a stiff upper lip, you ken? You'll be safe and working again before you know it."

The faces of worry turned to relief.

"Thank you, Miss McLinden," said the woman holding her child.

"It's all part of my job, lass," Perry said casually, and she mounted her mecha once again.

Anxious eyes followed the trio as they rode past the citizens and workers of Firewall Cavern and continued down the road.

"Nice performance!" Lenny said proudly.

"Indeed," Junjie added. "You handled that situation better than I would have expected."

"Aye!" Perry said happily. "I think I did damn well for someone who's got no idea what the hell she's getting herself into!"

Junjie had to force himself not to groan in annoyance, and settled for simply slapping his forehead in exasperation.

* * *

"Well," he said blankly.

"Well what, lad?" asked Perry.

"I now completely understand why this cavern is called 'Firewall'," Junjie replied.

Until now, he hadn't even known it was possible for something to give off a dark orange glow - or even for a dark orange glow to exist - and yet this cavern seemed to be saturated in it. That and sweltering, clinging heat that mercilessly clawed at his throat as he breathed. This place seemed so humid it was a miracle they weren't riding through a lake.

Yet somehow, with all this airborne moisture, there were thick columns of molten magma pouring from the ceiling and down into thankfully-not-overflowing pools on the ground, and any space not taken up by one of those or by a large geyser or steam vent was covered by a huge, dark, ugly-looking structure of reinforced metal that had long since been scorched utterly black. They towered all the way up to the cavern's roof, monoliths of blackened steel that had thankfully fallen silent, and were dotted haphazardly around the cavern like a giant, absurd join-the-dots activity.

"The Western border..." Lenny said, and she unclipped the clasps on her dungarees and allowed the top half to fall down, becoming more like trousers.

"It's this way," said Perry, who had brought out her compass again and unzipped her jacket. "Ugh, I don't think I'll ever like this place. Should've brought me hot weather garb."

"Indeed," said Junjie. "I know I was taken off-guard by the colder climate of the Northern realm, but _this_..."

On his bandoleer, Joo-Joo chattered to him enthusiastically and pointed this way and that at their surroundings.

"Of course _you're_ going to like it," Junjie said flatly. "You're a _fire_ slug."

He tried to ignore his Infurnus' enthusiasm and kept pace with Perry and Lenny, who had picked up speed in an effort to get through the cavern and its heat as quickly as they could. They hadn't even been within the borders of the cavern for five minutes and already Junjie could feel sweat pooling on his forehead.

"You might want to take some of your kit off, lad," Perry told him. "This place'll give you heatstroke if you go walking around in all those pads and furs."

"But this is my standard combat attire," Junjie argued. "I don't think I'd feel comfortable walking around with my skin exposed."

"It ain't a matter of comfort, JJ!" Perry replied. "Of the three of us, you're the one wearing the most and if you don't remove some of that stuff, you'll broil right where you sit. I didn't bring you all this way just so you could die from dehydration 'coz you're too modest to take your bloody furs off!"

She herself was rubbing her arm against her torso, rolling down her glove, and once it was sufficiently scrunched she pulled it off with her teeth, then proceeded to do the same on the other side. All without once slowing down on her mecha or glancing away from what was in front of her.

Despite her having bared her hands in front of him before, it was only now that Junjie noticed a scar on her right hand. It was jagged, almost like a crack, ended just before the gusset of her thumb and presumably ran almost the entire way around her hand, across the middle of her palm.

Yet the remainder of her arms was pale and pristine. She didn't even have any visible tattoos. If she was truly the guardian of this realm - and had been for three full years - how did she only have that one scar in an obvious place?

No matter, he considered as he opened his vest and reached for the cord that tied his sleeves together. If she was baring herself for the climate, it would only be fair if he did too.

"Please tell me we don't have much further to go," Lenny said weakly as she pulled her trouser legs out of her boots.

"I don't think so," said Perry. "Or at least, I bloody well hope not. I'm definitely having the mother of all showers later."

"Not before I do," said Junjie.

"Both of you make sure not to use too much shampoo!" called Lenny.

"Where will we even stay?" Junjie asked. "This cavern doesn't look like the best place for a hotel and I don't think those refugees would be able to take us in."

"Don't worry about that," Lenny said, somehow managing an optimistic smile. "I know a place where they'll be willing to put us up free of charge. We'll be safe there. Trust me."

They curved around one last corner and slowed to a halt, as before them was yet another power station and a sign that stood before it:

 _BALDUR STATION_

 **CONDEMNED**

 **DO NOT APPROACH**

 **DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENTER**

Junjie climbed down from his mecha and rested his hand on the ground.

"Vibrations," he muttered. "Just like in the theatre."

"Aye," Perry said as she dismounted. "This'll be the place. You willing to wait, Lenny?"

"Is it okay with you guys if I wait at the border?" asked Lenny. "I'm sure you'll both be able to handle the situation, but I don't think I can handle this heat for very long!"

"That's fine, Len," Perry said, and she laid her jacket over her mecha after taking her blaster from its holster. "I mean, we _have_ to get roasted, but you can wait for us outside if you want to."

" _Thank you_ ," Lenny sighed breathlessly, and she didn't even hesitate before turning about and riding away in the direction she had come.

Junjie stared after her.

"The clothes she's wearing look rather thick," he commented. "Wouldn't it have made sense to give more time to preparation? To have brought more suitable clothes with you?"

"Time is one thing we don't have, lad," said Perry. "You think I went swanning about me house packing luggage before I took a hike across the Cavern Sea? Me compartment ain't that big, lad. I can't fit me alternate climate gear in there."

"And how do you plan on carrying your arsenal with you without your jacket to hide them?" Junjie pointed out.

Perry looked him dead in the eye. While Fury jumped onto her shoulder and rolled his eyes at the Eastern slinger, she reached into her mecha's compartment and held up two canisters which shone the same shade of white as those that already adorned her belt.

So she _had_ brought contingencies after all. Was this woman ever going to be predictable?

"Get as much of your kit off as you can, JJ," she advised as she started attaching the canisters to her belts. "Once we get in there, you're going to need the breeze."

It was an odd way of stating that request, Junjie considered as he removed his shoulder pads, and somehow found himself smirking in amusement at her casual sense of command. Not even Eli was that leisurely on a mission.

"And wipe that smile off your face, lad. You'll throw off my shot with your cuteness."

* * *

"They're right outside..."

D'Artagnan's hands were shaking as they lowered their binoculars.

"Athos, what do we do?!" they cried.

"We don't panic," said Athos.

She picked up a blaster and pressed it into her younger sibling's hands, dislodging the binoculars to crack on the ground.

"What're you giving me this for?!" the teen demanded in horror.

"To take," Athos replied, and she hanged a red glass canister on their belt; one that contained a ferociously snarling Harmashelt.

"Take where?" d'Artagnan sounded on the edge of tears.

"To outside the border of the cavern," Athos explained, "where you'll wait for the McLinden and her companions and you'll take them down for good."

"What?! But I- what about you?!"

"I'll hold them here for as long as I can," said Athos. "Either they beat me and they head your way - which is where you kill them - or I beat them here and I find you. Whatever happens, I'll come for you. I won't abandon you, d'Artagnan. I'd _never_ abandon you."

D'Artagnan tightened their grip on the blaster, clutching it to their chest.

"I-I..." they stammered. "I... don't forget me!"

With that, the teen sprinted across the room to the hallway.


	8. Die

The walls themselves seemed to be sweating as the two slingers crept through the corridors, the metal entombing them on all sides and trapping in the heat like an oven.

Perry's finger squeaked as she wiped it along the metal wall, and after she had examined the grime she had collected and grimaced in disgust, she wiped her finger on her now bare leg.

Junjie didn't stare. One of the nastier parts of his mind told him that Perry should be thankful he wasn't the type to ogle women in short form-fitting dresses, no matter how long and shapely their legs were. Any lesser man would more than likely have been rendered inert by her latest lack of leg attire.

Not that he was the type to complain, nor was he in any position to. He felt naked without his sleeves or his shoulderpads and furs (though to come in here while wearing them would be extremely stupid).

It wasn't like she was an unattractive woman - she was, if he was being honest, verging on beautiful (in appearances at least) - but there were far, far more important things to think about at this moment.

Especially since the walls had just let out another unpleasant, threatening groan.

"Mustn't run," said Perry. "Mustn't hurry. I've seen what happens in places like this. It's always when folks start panicking that everything goes to the dogs. So keep moving, but don't run."

"Understood," Junjie said, "although..."

"Although what?" asked Perry as a door slid open to allow them through.

"A rather dark thought just came to me," Junjie confessed. "If this place truly is on the edge of collapse - and our enemies truly are still here - wouldn't it just be easier to leave? To let this place destroy itself with them inside?"

Perry stopped walking, apparently just so she could turn and glare at him in what honestly looked more like annoyance than shock.

"Obviously it isn't something I would genuinely suggest," Junjie explained.

"And it better not be," Perry said angrily. "You know why?"

Junjie raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Because I don't let any person die in these caverns if I know there was something I could've done to stop it," Perry snarled, pointing a finger up at Junjie's nose. "These scuggans may be trying to bring hell to me home, but like it or not, they're in _my_ caverns which makes them _my_ responsibility. And I ain't about to sit back in a deck chair sipping on scotch and just watch these people get killed. You got that, JJ?"

It was hardly the most terrifying she could have been, but the heat radiating from her anger still felt more powerful than the clinging warmth of the cavern. Junjie could only find it in himself to nod.

"Good," she said, and leaned back.

The walls groaned again. It sounded far closer than it had last time.

"I don't think we have any time to argue," said Junjie. "I'm all for saving these people, but it won't mean anything if we can't save ourselves too."

"Ain't that the truth," Perry agreed. "Still don't hurry, but pick up the pace!"

Their walk became something closer to a trot as they found their way to a staircase and Perry took the steps two at a time, with Junjie only barely keeping pace behind her and somehow managing not to let his eyes wander to her dangerously short skirt. There was an urgency in the air, the likes of which he hadn't felt in the theatre, and it wasn't made easier by the railing vibrating and making his hands numb as he tried to take hold of it.

"I can only hope you know where you're going," he said after around three flights.

"If you were running an operation, lad, where would you set up camp?" asked Perry. "What do you think would be the most sensible place to watch everything to to shit?"

Ignoring her crude language, the answer was obvious.

"A control room," said Junjie. "Or any sort of office. If I were an ex-employee of Blakk looking to emulate my boss, that's where I would go."

"Aye, that's it!" Despite her insistence on not hurrying, Perry was practically sprinting up the stairs. "So that's where we'll find 'em. Think I might let you do the talking when we get there."

"And why is that?"

Perry scoffed.

"Have you _heard_ me, lad?" she asked. "Do I really seem like I'd be good on a debate team or something?"

Junjie nodded, feeling a small smile creep across his lips. There was something to be appreciated about a sense of self-awareness.

"And I know all these stairs are ridiculous," said Perry, "but-"

"Taking an elevator in these circumstances would _not_ be a good idea," Junjie finished for her.

Perry didn't reply. They had come to the end.

The stairway topped out at the end of a short corridor. To their immediate left was an elevator, but neither of them trusted it enough to go anywhere near it. At the end of the corridor was a door bearing a brass placard.

They approached. It read "Management".

"This is it," said Junjie. He held up his blaster for Joo-Joo to jump into.

"Ready to give 'em hell, Fury?" Perry asked her Infurnus, which nodded with a fearsome grin.

With their blasters at the ready, the door had barely finished opening before they were through, preparing to fire.

The office was empty.

"Oi!" Perry shouted. "I know you're in here, you slime-faced scuggan! Come out where we can slug you!"

"Didn't you say I should do the talking?" Junjie reminded as he stepped further in, still ready to let loose with Joo-Joo.

"Plans change with the situation!" Perry snapped.

Junjie turned away from the large window that stood in front of him to glare back at her in annoyance, but as he turned, another figure caught his eye.

A figure who was raising a blaster.

Junjie didn't hesitate. He fired and Joo-Joo sped straight to the stranger, who rolled aside and the Infurnus collided with the wall before Junjie had a chance to guide him. Alerted to the danger, Perry quickly let off a shot of her own, which the stranger avoided yet again.

"Who are you?!" Perry demanded. "And what're you wrecking me lands for, eh?"

Having reloaded, she and Junjie kept their blasters leveled as the stranger rose to her feet.

It was a woman dressed in clothes of dark green and dark red, her black shoulder pads bearing the glowing red V that Junjie recognised as the insignia of Blakk Industries. She was mid-twenties at the eldest with brown eyes and brown hair swept away from horrific scars on the right side of her face, as though a wild animal had tried to gouge her brains out. It had been unsuccessful (duh) but judging by the milky blankness of her right eye, at least something had been taken from her by the attack.

"Isn't it obvious?" the woman demanded, her accent betraying her as a native of the West. "I'm finishing what my boss started!"

The ghoul she fired was a Greneater, which landed right at Junjie's feet, and he was quick to block it in a case of ice before it could blow him up. Meanwhile, Perry let loose with Greg and Graeme, but the woman simply dodged the Tazerling and brushed the Rammstone aside as though he were a gnat.

With her attention diverted, Junjie fired again with his Frostcrawler, coating the floor under the woman's feet in a sheet of ice that instantly began to melt in the heat and thus was instantly slippery. So distracted was she that she didn't see it until she had slipped and fallen to the floor.

Below their feet, the structure groaned again.

"You hear that?!" Perry shouted at the woman, who was glaring at her in rage. "You might want to avenge your boss, lass, but unless you make yourself scarce in two seconds flat, you ain't going to be much more than a lump of charcoal in a lava lake! There was a REASON this place was abandoned, you bloody smeg-for-brains! So what'll it be: fighting us and dying or running and living?!"

The woman's glare faltered. For some reason, she actually seemed to be having trouble deciding whether or not she should _live_.

But after seven seconds, she scrambled out of the now-melted puddle and bolted through the door.

Junjie and Perry stared after her.

"You may have wanted me to do the talking," said Junjie, "but I doubt a gentle touch was necessary in this case."

"Who cares anymore?!" Perry demanded as they snatched up their slugs. "Let's leg it before we're geography!"

"Geography?"

"It's like history, only more spread out!"

They dashed through the door and sprinted down the corridor, and rather than wasting time on each individual step, Junjie snatched up the female slinger and held her close as he sat on the railing and slid down (bare legs were hardly ideal for this sort of activity, unless ugly friction burns were desired). She made no objections as he twisted around the bends, quickly switching from one flight to another, the seats of his trousers squeaking in complaint against the still-sweaty metal.

"You don't think there was someone we may have missed, do you?" asked Junjie.

"As much as I really really want to go through this whole building and check, we don't have the bloody time!" Perry responded. "The most we can do is just _go!_ "

"But we haven't seen that woman!" Junjie pointed out. "You don't think she tried to take the elevator, do you?"

Somewhere in the building, something snapped, followed by a tremendous racket of groaning and the scraping of metal against metal.

It only lasted for a matter of seconds.

"If she did, I doubt she died from a fall like that!" Perry replied.

They reached the bottom of the stairwell after what felt like an eternity of sliding, leaped off the railing and ran. It wasn't a matter of timing or plot convenience: whether there was a limit to how long they could stay there or not, neither of the pair wanted to be inside the building for a single second longer.

"At least one job will be done for us," Junjie said as they continued sprinting. "We won't have to worry about the drill. I doubt dark water has much of an effect on molten rock!"

"Let's bloody well hope so!" cried Perry.

After only a few more twists and turns they found themselves back at the maintenance entrance they had used to get in, and rather than simply waiting for it to open, Junjie fired Joo-Joo straight at it and the Infurnus happily blazed his way through, leaving edges of glowing-red metal around a jagged hole. A hole which both slingers dived through - Junjie pausing to again snatch up his slug - and then continued running, their legs by now running on automatic and somewhere between sore and numb.

Their mechas were still where they had been parked, patiently waiting for their return. Neither hesitated: they jumped on, made sure their belongings were secure and rode as quickly in the direction they had come from as they could.

They didn't even look back as, from behind them, there came a groan that could only be described as almighty, followed by a monumental cacophony of crashes and bangs and sickening crunches as the Baldur station took its place as a thing of the past. Only when the racket began to subside did the pair dare to slow down and watch, struggling to catch their breaths in the humid, sweltering heat.

Where the station had stood, there now remained only heaps of plating, girders and assorted unidentifiable machinery or varying sizes, all of which were slowly sliding off the hardened rock face and into the lava lake. Aside from the occasional _clang_ or another groan, it was almost startlingly quiet.

"And you honestly think an island further north will be more difficult to deal with than what we just experienced?" asked Junjie.

" _Aye_ ," Perry said, likely more dramatically than she had intended due to being short of breath.

They sat for a moment, trying to stop panting. The heat made it near-impossible to breathe without feeling like their throats were being roasted.

"I kinda feel," Perry spoke up after some time of watching the sinking station, "that I owe you a drink."

"If I'm being honest, you sound like you need it far more than I do," said Junjie.

Despite still being exhausted, Perry managed a smile.

"We shouldn't keep Lenny waiting," Junjie reminded.

"Too right we shouldn't," said Perry. "We'd never hear the end of it."

"Your skirt has ridden up, by the way."

"Ah. Thanks, mate."

And once the red fabric had been pulled back down, the pair were grateful to turn about and make for the cavern's exit.

* * *

"You know," Perry said as she tugged her leggings' foothole over her boot, "I think that went better than I'd expected."

"I think it would have gone better than expected if we'd entered the station to find it filled with clowns," said Junjie, glad to have his shoulderpads back in their proper position.

Perry laughed as she tucked the black fabric into her boot.

"I mean we could've had to run out with the place falling to pieces around us," she said, slipping her arms back into her jacket. "I never understood that about that Max Jackson pillock. You'd think he'd have been brained ten times over by now with all the rubble runs he's had to do, right?"

Junjie he smiled again. He was glad he wasn't the only one not to have somehow fallen head-over-heels for Max Jackson.

"Wait."

He braked as Perry zipped up her jacket and dismounted. He was about to ask what was wrong, but she held up a hand for silence, then reached back and drew her blaster.

It didn't take long for Junjie to figure out what had her apprehensive. He could hear talking not far away - just around the rock wall that bordered Firewall Cavern - and while one voice was recognisable as Lenny, the other was unfamiliar.

"For the last time, I'm not interested in fighting," Lenny said. "Look, I'm not armed, see? I don't even have any slugs on me, let alone a blaster-"

"I don't care!" The stranger sounded like a teenager, but it was impossible to tell whether it was a girl or a boy whose voice hadn't broken yet. "Tell me where the McLinden woman is!"

"She's back in Firewall Cavern," Lenny said, while Perry held up a canister for Greg to hop into. "Like I told you the last fifteen times you asked. With any luck, she should be coming back soon. If you put the blaster down and just wait, then-"

"S-shut up!" By the sounds of things, the stranger was terrified. "Surrender now! Or I'll fire!"

There was a sigh. Perry loaded her blaster and motioned for Junjie to stay back and stay quiet.

"Telling me to surrender is rather pointless, don't you think?" asked Lenny. "That implies I was actually putting up resistance in the first place. Rather than standing there making pointless threats, maybe you could take a writing class instead."

Leaning against the edge of the rock face, Perry tightened her finger on the trigger.

"I don't want a grammar lesson!" shouted the stranger. "What I want is for you to-"

They didn't get a chance to finish their command, on account of Perry turning the corner and firing her trusted Tazerling. Junjie heard the crackling of electricity and weak scream of the person who had been hit with it, followed by the thumps of them falling to the ground.

The threat neutralised, he and the woman he accompanied stepped out into the open.

Lenny stood with her arms crossed and a smug, satisfied smirk on her face, looking down at the crumpled body of a teenager with short brown hair who was dressed in the same kind of dark red and dark green clothes of the woman the pair had encountered in the now-defunct station. They even had the same insignia shoulderpads. The main differences were that their hair was much shorter, in a far more boyish cut, and they had a red scarf wrapped around their neck.

As Perry slotted Graeme into her blaster, they pressed themself up onto their hands and knees.

"Lenny, are you alright?" asked Junjie.

"I'm fine," said Lenny, "though I have a feeling I would be even if you two hadn't shown up."

"Picking on my Lenny, eh?" Perry's voice and eyes were spilling over with rage as she glared down at the stranger. "Last person who tried that still ain't out of hospital yet. Looking to join him, are you?"

The stranger didn't reply. They still kept their hand on their blaster, pressing it into the ground, but were making no attempt to use it. Junjie could see the Harmashelt inside snarling and growling and struggling to escape.

"Eh?!" Perry's tone grew more frustrated. "Come on, speak up!"

Junjie was half confused, half curious as he walked around the stranger, looking them over. They were thin and rather small. There was no way they were a fully grown adult. From the looks of things, they probably weren't much older than Eli.

The elder slinger knelt down in front of them.

"Are you related to that woman we encountered back in Firewall Cavern?" he asked.

"JJ, what're you doing?" Perry demanded.

"Didn't you say you'd prefer it if I did the talking?" asked Junjie. "Well, I'm talking."

The stranger looked up, confirming Junjie's suspicion that they were only a teenager. They couldn't have been more than seventeen at the eldest, and they had tears welling in their big brown eyes.

"Is she okay?" they cried. "Is my sister okay?!"

"That nutjob lass is your sister?!" Perry exclaimed.

"She wasn't in the Baldur station when it collapsed," Junjie told the teen. "There's a very good chance she's still alive."

The teen blinked, sending torrents of tears pouring down their face, and then they threw themself on Junjie, wrapping their arms around him with a wail of despair.

" _I'm sorry!_ " they wept. "I don't want to hurt anyone, I'm _SORRY!_ "

Speechless from shock, Junjie couldn't think of anything to do except sit there as this stranger cried into his chest.

Perry stowed her blaster away on her back. Junjie looked up at her, expecting rage or horror, but if anything she looked resigned as she crouched down next to the sobbing teenager.

"What's your name, ladsie?" she asked in a voice far gentler than Junjie could have anticipated.

The teen looked up at her with eyes that were puffy and red.

"D'Artagnan," they sobbed. "D-d'Artagn- my name's d'Artagnan Musket."

"And all these lasses what've been giving us grief," Perry said as Lenny crouched down on Junjie's other side, "are they all your sisters?"

D'Artagnan pressed their body away from Junjie.

"Yes," they said, and wiped their eyes. "Athos was back there, and Porthos was down in Symphogna Cavern, a-and I think Aramis is at Fogfall Island right now but-"

"Then aren't you one of them?" Lenny asked. "Aren't you betraying them by telling us this?"

"They don't know what they're doing!" cried d'Artagnan. "They're confused! They're trying to finish what Dr Blakk was doing but they don't even know why! They don't know why we're digging for dark water or ghouling slugs and now all of us are going to die for it!"

"No you ain't!" Perry said. "I ain't going to kill you! Why the hell do you think you're going to die?"

"Because we are," d'Artagnan wept, and started pulling their scarf away. "We're all going to die and there's nothing we can do to stop it."

The three the teen was facing stared in horror at their now-exposed neck. The skin was red and blistering, with veins standing out yellow or white like they were filled with pus, and as the frightened youth tried to catch their breath, the skin cracked and leaked a clear, sickly-looking fluid.

"What the ever-loving hell caused that?" Perry muttered in shock.

"It's dark water," d'Artagnan choked. "It's because we spent too much time around dark water. I can barely swallow anymore. Athos' chest is rotting. Porthos already lost one arm and her other's going too and Aramis got splashed in the face and now she can't even talk anymore. She needs to wear a mask all the time just so she can breathe."

They put their scarf back on.

"Then why stay with them?" asked Lenny. "Why not leave and try to find help for yourself?"

"They're my sisters," d'Artagnan said sadly. "They're the only family I've ever had. The only family I'll ever have. I can't leave them. Especially not now, not with how far we've come. I just... I just can't."

They sniffed.

"I'm sorry."

With a sigh, Perry fell into a sitting position.

"You were sent to wait for me and kill me, weren't you?" she asked. "'Cept you didn't count on Lenny being here and you freaked."

D'Artagnan nodded.

"I didn't know there were going to be three of you," they said. "So I didn't-"

They were cut off by a violent coughing fit. Perry reached up and rubbed their back.

"I'm sorry," said d'Artagnan. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry people are getting sick. I'm sorry plants are dying. I'm sorry we're bringing all of these evil things up into Slugterra. I'm sorry we're causing so much trouble for you. I'm sorry. I'm _sorry._ "

Rubbing their arms, they climbed to their feet.

"I have to go," they said. "If Athos sees me talking to you, she'll get mad at me again. I'll just say you attacked me and I couldn't fight back. It-it's Perry, right?"

"Aye, that's me," Perry said, looking up at the worried teen with a faint, friendly smile.

"Please," said d'Artagnan. "Please just surrender. If you're going to come to Fogfall Island to try to stop us, just give yourself up. That's the only way Athos will stop. She'll only stop if you're gone. She'll only stop when she knows she's finally done something our boss would've been proud of. Please..."

Still clutching themself, the teen picked up their blaster, turned away and ran.

Junjie stood up and straightened out his trousers.

"That kid just came out of nowhere," Lenny explained. "Kept asking me where you were over and over no matter how many times I kept saying you were back in that cavern. Never seemed satisfied."

"At least now we know these people's motivation," Junjie commented. "Though I'll admit it baffles me that they could be so dedicated to Dr Blakk."

"And you don't feel like telling me who this Dr Blakk person was or why _he_ wanted to turn Slugterra into a literal hell?" asked Lenny.

"It would take a while," Junjie replied, "and besides, I'm not massively clear on every detail as it is. You would do better to ask Eli."

"Who isn't here," Lenny said flatly. "Ugh, whatever. You took care of the problem, didn't you? Because if so, we should get moving to our safe house as soon as possible. Don't worry about the people already there because I can promise you from the bottom of my heart that they're trustworthy."

It was only now that Perry stood up. Junjie hadn't even noticed how she'd remained on the ground.

"I expect that wasn't what you had anticipated from your enemy," he suggested.

"Too bloody right," Perry said bitterly. "I'd been hoping for folks just looking to stir up trouble. That's what I'm used to, for crivens' sake. Wasn't expecting some terrified wee bairn whose whole family are dying horrible deaths."

She sighed, rubbing her head, and walked back over to her mecha.

"I'd appreciate it- Lenny?" she said.

"Yes?" Lenny responded.

"I'd appreciate if you could maybe call your Uncle Owyn either tonight or tomorrow morning before we head off," Perry requested, mounting her mecha. "See if there's anything he can tell us about dark water and what can be done to stop its effects. There has to be _something_ we can do to help that bairn."

Lenny nodded.

"JJ, lad, you coming?"

Ever obedient - though not happy to think himself as such - Junjie found and mounted his own mecha, and it wasn't long before the trio were making their way to their stopping point for the night.

* * *

"Athos!"

She looked up and sighed in relief as her youngest sibling came running to her.

"There you are," she said, and pulled them into a gentle hug. "You had me worried sick! Did you take care of the McLinden?"

"I'm sorry," d'Artagnan sobbed. "She was too strong. I couldn't beat her. I didn't-"

"It's alright," said Athos. "Get on. Since we've failed here too, we're joining Porthos and Aramis at Fogfall Island. Hopefully that woman will be too cowardly to come after us there."

She pulled the teen up to sit behind her on her mecha, and once d'Artagnan had their arms securely wrapped around her waist, they set off.


	9. Fireflies

Evening had come by the time the trio of riders had reached the end of the entry road, and Junjie looked up at the building they were approaching in curious apprehension.

It was far larger than he had expected. From what Perry and Lenny had said, he had assumed that the night's stopping point would be another empty slug wrangler shack, rather than the structure that stood out from the vegetation surrounding it as though it had been randomly slapped there.

It was a house. One made for a family to live in. That much was certain. And considering how it had three stories, a balcony on the top floor, the roof of the garage obviously made for accommodation (judging by the deck chairs and table) and the second building off to one side that was either an expensive shed or a second living space, the family it was built for was rather large.

"So this is where we'll be staying tonight?" he asked as a request for clarification.

"Aye, this is it," Perry confirmed. "Pretty impressive, eh?"

"I think it would be a good idea if Perry and I went in and explained the situation before you're introduced," Lenny suggested as she dismounted. "Don't worry about parking; I'll make sure our mechas are moved into the garage."

"Understood," Junjie said with a nod.

Perry dismounted, and she gave her male companion a sly smile before she and her friend entered the house. Junjie saw the window in the upper third of the door light up and heard Lenny calling for anyone there to respond.

Still curious, Junjie cautiously approached the door.

" _YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ "

A thrill of terror shot down his spine when he heard the shout, and he ran to look through the window with a cold sweat growing on his forehead.

"AH!" Perry shouted. "Crivens, Kenny, calm your tits!"

She was held aloft in the arms of... no, it wasn't a troll. His body structure was far too evenly proportioned for him to be a troll. He was just a very tall, very muscular human who just so happened to have a shock of vivid red hair and skin the same shade of blue as Lenny's. When he put Perry down, Junjie saw that he was grinning and wearing a bright red shirt with two white interlocked Bs printed on the chest.

"I knew you two would come back!" he said as he joyfully pulled Lenny into a gentler hug. "I kept saying to Mum, I said you'd both be fine!"

"Yes, yes, we're both fine!" Lenny pushed herself out of her grip.

Then, from elsewhere in the house, there was a second, far higher-pitched scream:

"LENNYPERRYLENNYPERRYLENNYPERRYLENNYPERRYYOU'REBACKYOU'REBACKYOU'REBACKYOU'REBACKYOU'RE _BACK!_ "

A bright blue blur shot down the stairs and almost bowled the two young women over, and once they had steadied themselves, Junjie saw that it was a teenager who stood at least half a foot shorter than Lenny. Her hair was the same shade of pale purple and pulled into a ponytail on the left side of her head, and Junjie noticed that while her skin was primarily the same shade of blue again - a deeper shade than the dress she wore - she was covered in blotches of a paler, far more human-looking tone.

"Henny, watch it!" Perry warned, though she was smiling all the same. "You almost went and knocked me over!"

"Are you glad to see us, Hen?" asked Lenny.

"Glad to see you?" said Kenny. "She's barely shut up since you left!"

"I was scared you might now come back!" Henny cried as she buried herself in Lenny's chest.

Now Junjie understood. This was Lenny's family. This was her home.

As he watched, a middle aged woman entered the hallway. Her hair was the same shade of purple as Lenny and Henny's if somewhat paler, though her skin was a dark shade of a far more human brown.

"It's nice to see you haven't got my daughter killed yet, Perry," she commented.

"Mum!" Lenny sighed.

"Mama Cathleen!" Perry added, and the two of them walked over to hug her.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" the woman responded, and she hugged them both in return. "And you're both just in time. We've finished dinner and I was about to dish up, so-"

"Do I hear the sounds of my favourite young ladies come home?"

Somehow the voice managed to be booming, yet calm and comforting, and Junjie had to blink several times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and the newcomer wasn't just a walking mass of hair. It was easily the tallest man he had ever seen - taller than a troll, even - and his blue face was barely visible under the flaming red beard that reached all the way down to his knees. He entered with a beaming smile and wide arms, and welcomed both of the young women into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you, Dad!" said Lenny.

"Hey, Papa Rhys!" Perry said, just as happy.

"And it's good to know you two can take time out of keeping us helpless citizens safe just to come home for a family supper," said Mrs Harper.

"Didn't you once kill a bloke with your thighs?" asked Perry.

Mrs Harper shrugged dismissively.

"And besides," Lenny interjected, still hugging her father around his sizable waist, "we were actually looking to stay the night-"

"EXCELLENT!" Mr Harper lifted his daughter up into the air in his hands as she yelped in shock. "It's been far too long since you both stopped with us!"

"Aye," Perry said weakly, seemingly intimidated by the massive man's equally massive strength. "And, uh-"

"Mum, there's some guy looking through the door!"

Far too late, Junjie noticed the youngest female - Henny, apparently - had walked over to the door at some point and was staring right at him.

"I was going to say," Perry said as Lenny was set down, and Kenny walked over to glare at Junjie's face, "we did manage to find a bloke who'd help us and-"

"Mum!" Henny spoke up again. "Mum, he's cute, what should I do?"

Junjie felt blood rush to his face in torrents.

"Well?" Mrs Harper said pointedly. "What _should_ we do?"

Perry looked to Junjie with a smile. 

* * *

"Alright, folks, dig in!"

At Mrs Harper's command, the family leaped into life. Ladles were snatched up with a surprisingly small amount of argument and bowls quickly began to fill, but all Junjie could think of to do was shift in his seat, ever so slightly.

"Better dig in before it's all gone, lad," Perry recommended from where she was seated next to him. "Mama Cathleen's cooking is the best in the whole cavern."

She picked up her own bowl and reached for a ladle.

Junjie found himself staring at the spread. The huge bowl in the centre of the table was brimming with rice, though quickly diminishing thanks to the hungry family, with peas and shreds of carrot poking up between the grains. The steam wafting up from the heap carried with it a delectable scent of cooked cereal and subtle herbs, though not nearly as delicious-smelling as the smaller bowls that surrounded it. One, which Perry was eagerly taking from, contained chunks of chicken in an orange sauce that smelled spicy and hot, and another was filled with chopped up chunks of sausage and bacon and thin slices of mushroom. A third was filled with chicken in a rich, steaming gravy, and a fourth was filled with beef in a richer though equally steaming gravy, while a fifth contained chopped up vegetables - carrots, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and the like - that gave off a smell of herbs nowhere near as subtle as the rice.

Not wanting to feel left out, he reached for a ladle in the main rice bowl once one was available and scooped himself a spoonful. Deciding to go for a simpler option, he chose the chicken in gravy to complete his meal, though a small voice in the back of his mind told him that he should sample a little from each at least once because this was a bigger meal than he'd seen in the entirety of his time in the 99 Caverns.

As he mixed his meal together, Mr Harper and Kenny became deeply engaged in boisterous conversation about some sport called slugby, while Lenny spoke with her mother about the adventures the trio had been through so far and Perry was sniggering at something. When Junjie looked, he saw that she was laughing at Henny, who was staring at him with stars in her eyes.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked.

" _Can I please draw you?_ " the girl sighed dreamily.

"Best to agree to it," Perry informed him, "or else she won't stop bugging you."

"Um..." Junjie still felt uncomfortable. "...alright, I suppose-"

Henny dissolved into helpless squeals.

"Eat up, lad!" Perry spoke like a teenager hadn't just semi-died right next to her. "Don't want your nosh to get cold, do you?"

Hoping that he hadn't done something wrong, Junjie spooned a portion of his chicken-and-rice into his mouth.

He clapped a hand to his lips as the flavours washed over his tongue. The chicken was soft, tender, juicy and succulent, only enhanced by the herbs and spices of the gravy, while the rice was soft and seemed to melt in his mouth, blended with the hint of sweetness from the peas and shredded carrot. It was like there was a party in his mouth; the type with rich gowns and tuxedos and silver platters with glasses of wine and platefuls of cheese and salami on toothpicks being carried around by smart waiters, and a full orchestra providing music as graceful guests whiled away the evening with each other on the dance floor.

As he chewed, turning the ocean of herb, grain and meat over and over in his mouth, he noticed Perry watching him with anticipation.

"So?" she said when he'd finally swallowed.

"It's..." Somehow he felt as though smiling was appropriate. "It's incredible. I can't think of any other way to put it."

"Nice," Perry said. "Oi! Mama Cathleen!"

The eyes of Lenny and her mother turned to the enthusiastic slinger.

"Junjie says he loves your cooking!" she said happily.

"Well, of course he does," Mrs Harper said proudly. "If he didn't, I wouldn't think he was very sensible."

"So how long do you plan to hang onto this one, P?" asked Kenny.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Perry blatantly lied as she spooned up more of her dinner.

"Yes you bloody do!" Kenny retorted and prompted a useless warning of "Language!" from his mother. "I was wondering when you'd get your seventh. Is he going to be your last or will you dump him and move on to some other bloke? 'Coz if it's option A, you'd better marry him before you hit 25 or else I owe Benny ten quid!"

"Are you and Benny taking bets on when my best friend is going to get married?" Lenny demanded as Perry almost choked and Junjie once again failed to hide his blush.

"You'd better listen here, matey." Mr Harper pointed a thick, sausage-like finger at Junjie's face. "I've known Periwinkle long enough for her to become like a daughter to me, so you'd better treat her better than some of her other boyfriends or else-"

" _We ain't dating!_ " Perry cried after swallowing her mouthful. "I brought him over from the West so's he could help me take down the scuggans-"

"Language!"

"-what're hurting our home caverns!"

"Could've fooled me," Kenny snarked. "You've been gazing at him half the evening!"

"I was waiting to see what he thought of Mama Cathleen's cooking, you numpty!" Perry replied.

"I think I should say that Perry and I are not dating," Junjie interjected, and raised his hand so that he would definitely be noticed. "Nor do either of us have any interest in initiating that sort of relationship. As of now, we are in an arrangement of professionalism and with any luck, it shall remain that way. And yes, Mrs Harper, your cooking is fantastic."

"You're very polite," Mrs Harper said proudly.

"Thank you," Junjie replied with a pleasant smile.

As the dinnertime returned to semi-normality, Junjie couldn't avoid noticing Henny eagerly exchanging whispers with her brother, and both of them occasionally glancing at him and sniggering. He tried not to pay to much attention: he was a stranger to these people after all. There were bound to be all sorts of questions about him.

"You still haven't told us where you're from, Junjie," said Mrs Harper. "I understand that Periwinkle found you in the West, but by the looks of you, I doubt that's where you're from."

"Please, Mum, don't be rude," Lenny sighed.

"No, it would be ruder to forcefully ignore it," Junjie said. "It's true. I am a native of the Eastern Caverns. The circumstances that brought be to the 99 Caverns are complex and somewhat unfortunate, and not the sort that could be detailed around a dinner table."

"You got slugby in the East?" Kenny said suddenly, and for the first time the slinger noticed something glinting in his mouth.

"Slugby?" Junjie was baffled. "I don't believe I've heard of the sport."

"'Course you haven't," said Mr Harper. "I'm betting all you have is that sissy _slugball_ those bloody Western buggers are all so proud of."

"Dad, how many times?" Lenny sighed in exasperation. "People can get seriously hurt playing slugball!"

"If they have to wear all that padding, those buggers must get seriously hurt washing their faces in the morning," said Mr Harper, causing Henny to giggle.

"Slugby is _so_ much better than slugball," Kenny said enthusiastically. "There's none of that annoying armour, so those traps do _way_ more damage, and there's none of those silly boards or mechabeasts either. It's just you, your team, the ball and whatever slugs you can carry with you onto the field to beat down the other team."

"And they move around on special hoverboots rather than boards or vehicles," Lenny explained. "It's pretty dangerous. Kenny lost his arm the first time he played it."

"But I had it numbered so they stuck it right back on!" Kenny said, and he pulled up a sleeve to show off a scar that ran around his shoulder and armpit.

"Couldn't get your tooth back though, could they?" asked Perry.

"That's true," Kenny admitted. "Hey Junjie, want to know why they call me Kenny Bluetooth?"

"I must confess the thought never occurred to me," Junjie said.

Before he had a chance to respond, Kenny reached into his mouth and pulled out the glinting thing the slinger had noticed earlier. When he held it out, Junjie saw that it was a sapphire; one that had been carefully cut and intricately carved into the shape of a tooth.

"Kenny, I thought I told you not to pull your tooth out at the dinner table!" Mrs Harper scolded.

"Yes, Mum," Kenny sighed sadly, and he pressed the prosthetic back into his gums. Junjie considered that only here and in his strangest dreams would Mrs Harper's order ever make any sort of sense.

"Don't let him brainwash you, JJ," Perry warned. "All these sporties are numbskulls-"

"Thanks, _Benny_ ," Kenny said flatly.

"You got a full team already!" Perry objected. "You don't need to go roping this bloke in before you even know his last name!"

"I'm not sure if I have a last name to learn," Junjie said.

"Just don't worry about it, lad," said Perry. "You thirsty?"

"A little," said Junjie.

"Right," Perry said with a smile. "Oi Kenny, when you're done nattering about slugby, could you pass the juice?" 

* * *

"Here you are!" Mrs Harper cheerfully said as she rested the bowl down. "And there's more than enough to go around, so make sure you share amongst yourselves. I'm looking at you, Fury."

The cinnabar Infurnus hissed at the woman while the rest of the slingers' armouries dug into the salad.

"I"m sorry we put you through so much trouble," Junjie said as he struggled to say comfortable.

"Don't worry about it, dear," Mrs Harper said calmly as she sat down on the couch. "Tonight was fairly average as family dinners go, so you needn't fear a thing."

"Keep still!" Henny insisted, and Junjie quickly looked back in her direction.

He was beginning to grow a little nervous. This girl had been sketching for almost a quarter of an hour and from what he could tell, she still wasn't anywhere near finished.

"Is it normal for you to take this long?" he asked.

" _Yes_ ," Henny snapped.

"She's always been weird," Kenny said as he sat down next to his mother, who frowned in his direction. "Always been obsessed with drawing. Be glad she's only after a sketch."

"At least the talent she's pursuing doesn't involve sweat and violence," Mrs Harper pointed out.

"Cathy!" Mr Harper shouted from the kitchen. "Where do we keep the scouring pads?"

"They're under the sink, Rhys!" Mrs Harper responded. "They've always been under the sink!"

"Last I checked, they were in the bottom drawer!"

"It was to keep them away from the ants!"

Junjie tried to ignore the discussion and focus on keeping still. He didn't want to meditate or use his Slug Fu to keep still, because if he entered a trance there was a good chance everybody in the room would be creeped out, and he didn't want to leave a bad impression on his new friend's family.

"Where did Perry and Lenny go?" he asked.

"They're in the garden," Mrs Harper told him. "Lenny wanted to study some of the slugs there, so Perry decided to tag along."

"I tell you," said Kenny, "if I'd known they were going to be glued to each other like that, I wouldn't have let them meet in the first place! Oh, and by the way, I moved your mechas into the garage so's nobody thinks they can nick them."

"...thank you," said Junjie.

"Done!" Henny said cheerfully, and she turned her sketchbook around. "What do you think?"

Junjie was impressed. From what he had seen of this girl so far, he had expected some abstract childish scribbling, but what he saw was an amazingly detailed sketch of his visage, right down to the glint in his eye from the lounge room's lights and the subtle shine on his hair. She'd even individually drawn every single hair in his eyebrows.

"Wow," he couldn't avoid saying.

"You like it?!" Henny asked happily.

"Of course," he replied. "I hadn't expected... you have a lot of talent."

She clutched the sketchbook to her chest and fell over backwards, lying flat on the floor, with a breathless giggle.

Junjie stared in confused concern.

"Don't worry about her," said Kenny. "She got like this when she met my teammates."

"She seemed to take a particular shine to Ruthless, didn't she?" asked Mrs Harper.

"Yeah, well, she's sensible!" said Kenny. "Even I think we wouldn't be half the team we were without Ruthless on our side."

Before Junjie had a chance to ask who this Ruthless person was and why they were so valuable, the door burst open and Perry came charging into the room.

"Come on, lad!" she exclaimed, and seized him around the wrist.

"What- hey!" Junjie was stunned as he was dragged to his feet.

He knew that he was more than strong enough to shake her off, and do so without any difficulty or risk to either of them, but his still-lingering curiosity prevented him from doing so and he let himself be pulled through the kitchen, past the still-cleaning Mr Harper who watched them pass with amusement, and out into the back garden. Once there, he decided enough was enough, and tugged his wrist out of her grip.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Perry, hurry!" Lenny was sitting right at the end of the garden, just beyond the edge of the forest that surrounded the house. "Come quickly, they'll be starting any second!"

"You'll like this," Perry said, and Junjie followed her as she power-walked over to where Lenny sat, clutching a camera in her lap and eyeing the trees around them with anticipation written across her face.

It would have seemed rude just to demand an explanation, so Junjie waited for whatever was so fascinating to show itself.

Half a minute passed.

Nothing happened.

"What are we-" Junjie started, but was quickly shushed.

Still nothing happened.

Then, between the trees, he noticed a faint glow.

It grew stronger as he approached, wondering what it could be, and then another appeared in the corner of his eye. And another, on his other side.

He looked closer and saw that it was a little slug, curled into a ball. It was difficult to tell with how brightly it was glowing, but the top of its head and its feelers were blue, and along its body it faded to white, then yellow, then orange and finally red at the end of its tail. It hadn't noticed him. Perhaps it was too focused on its heat and glow, and there certainly was heat: he had to be careful not to get too close, else his nose would probably have burned.

When he finally took his eyes away, he saw that he and the trees that surrounded him were almost thick with the little slugs, breaking the darkness apart and bathing it in warmth and light that daytime alone could never hope to accomplish. Leaves and branches that hung too close to the hovering creatures were blackening and curling into embers, yet not erupting into flames as he feared they might. Perhaps it was the magic of the slugs preventing it? He didn't know and couldn't find it in himself to care. He hadn't seen anything as stunning as this since he had lost his homelands.

"What's..." He couldn't find the words to express what he was seeing or feeling.

"Me and Lenny call them Firefloaters," Perry said as she walked up beside him. "Pretty boring, I know, but she came up with it when she were wee and it just stuck. Don't know if there's any more proper names for them and to be honest I don't give a smeg."

Junjie had no idea what he was supposed to say. He hadn't expected such an amazing spectacle to stem from such a cold and seemingly hostile climate.

"They do this every three months or so," explained Perry, and she sat down on the forest floor. "Lenny says it's a mating thing. They make themselves as hot as possible to show off how great they are and they end up glowing and floating. Since these things are so hot they can fly unaided, don't go touching them."

"I wasn't going to," Junjie said numbly.

He sat down next to her, gazing up at the surrounding glows in an overwhelming sense of wonderment.

"I've heard tales of the Burning World," he said, keeping his voice low to avoid disturbing the Firefloaters more than was necessary. "How the cavern roof stretches high enough to the point that it isn't even visible with the most powerful telescope, and it's covered in distant glimmering lights that the natives of that world call stars."

He found himself unable to avoid smiling as he raised his hand to one of the slugs. Not to touch it. Just close enough to feel its warmth on his fingers.

"I've never wondered what it would be like to sit among those stars," he said, "but somehow I imagine it wouldn't be so different from this."

Perry smiled too.

"I know what you mean, lad," she said. "Whenever they come up and do this, it's like something out of a dream. Almost doesn't feel real. You just..."

When Junjie looked to her, he saw her eyes were sparkling in the light of the near-innumerable glows.

"...you feel like you could reach up and touch them," she sighed. "Or like if you concentrated long or hard enough, you could start glowing yourself, and then you could float up and join them. I mean, I know that's pretty dumb, but-"

"It's not dumb," said Junjie. "You're right. It's like a dream."

He looked back up at the trees.

"One where you don't ever want to wake up."

He still couldn't stop smiling. At a time and place like this, to not feel as if he was enjoying himself would just have been strange.

Time was passing. Seconds or minutes could be ticking by. For all they knew, they could be sitting there for the rest of their lives, but as long as the beauty of Slugterra continued in this manner, neither of the slingers could bring themselves to care how long they sat there as they drank in the forest and its illuminating splendor.

"It sucks how they only do this for about an hour," Perry commented. "You just want it to go on forever, don't you?"

Not wanting to ruin anything by speaking any more than he needed to, Junjie nodded in response.

It was true. He didn't want it to end. He knew it had to eventually - surely they couldn't hold themselves up forever - but part of his mind wanted them to stay there. To never lose their glow or drift back down to the ground.

Still curious, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and reached out with his mind to the silent Firefloaters.

They were... happy. Happy to be airborne and releasing their light and warmth. And they were determined. Each was determined to generate as much heat and light as they possibly could, knowing that doing so would guarantee them company and the likelihood of propagating their species. Junjie had never known slugs to agree on anything so unanimously before, but from what he could tell, these little creatures were enjoying their spectacle just as much as he and his companions were.

When he returned to his own mind and opened his eyes, he noticed an unfamiliar weight on his shoulder that hadn't been there before. Upon investigating,he found that Perry had rested her head on his shoulder.

And it...

...it wasn't uncomfortable.

Or unpleasant.

It was...

...nice.

He looked back to the scene around them, comforted by her presence, and watched as the Firefloaters flew ever higher and brighter in the trees. 

* * *

"Okay," Lenny said. "Thanks, Ben. See you later."

She put the receiver down.

"So Benny's going to stop off at Perry's place on his way home," she explained. "'Coz if we are going up to Fogfall Island, much as I hate the idea, we're going to need some gear to protect us from the cold."

"Good," said Perry, and she rubbed her eyes. "In the meantime, we should get a bit of sleep, don't you think?"

"Is there a spare room?" asked Junjie.

"I checked Denny's old room, but that's been given over to storage," said Lenny. "You two will have to share Benny's room. It's on the top floor on the left from the stairs."

"We won't have to share a bed again, will we?" Junjie asked.

"No, I'll fetch a camp bed," Lenny said. "Give me some time to set it up, it won't take long."

Relieved, Junjie walked back into the lounge room, where through the window he could see some of the Firefloaters still drifting between the trees, unaware that the mating display was mostly over and done with (either that or they were still desperately holding out for a fellow straggler to notice them).

"I'm guessing you'd never seen Firefloaters before," said Perry.

"I don't think they dwelt in the East," Junjie explained. "If I've seen them in Eli's 99 Caverns, I seem to have forgotten them."

"Looks like you've got quite a bit still left to learn, eh?" Perry wandered over to where he stood. "Bet you haven't even seen a Chroma slug yet."

Junjie gave her a questioning look.

"I'll take that as a 'no I haven't'," Perry said with a smile.

"I understand that I'm older than you," Junjie said, "but that doesn't mean I've seen absolutely everything the world has to offer. And isn't it the knowledge that there will always be new knowledge that makes life worth living?"

"What're you, a gravestone?" Perry asked with a giggle.

Junjie gave her a glare.

"But aye, you're right," Perry said. "I'm always learning new stuff. Like how annoying it is when a floor is too slippery for you to properly slide on. Or how much it can hurt when you practically get your hand torn in half."

She looked down, wistful, at her right hand.

"Long story," she added, flexing her fingers.

Not wanting to continue _that_ conversation, Junjie sat back down on the couch and tried to ignore how quiet this house was now that almost everybody had gone to bed.

"It's almost the same when you relearn something," he said. "I spent so long fighting alone, almost acting as a commander, that I forgot what it was to accept aid from others, or to give aid in return. I'm lucky that Eli and his friends were able to remind me what it was to act in a team."

"Eh, it's all new to me," Perry said as she flopped down beside him. "We McLindens have almost always been lone wolves. I have Lenny with me a lot of the time, but that's about _it_. All the rest is just me."

Junjie nodded.

He understood.

"Come on, lad," Perry said as she quickly got up again, leaving questions as to why she bothered sitting down in the first place. "Lenny should've set up by now, so we'd better turn in. Going to have to leave not long after Benny gets back, you ken?"

"I ken," Junjie said.

Perry looked proud as punch as she trotted towards the stairs, and Junjie allowed himself a satisfied smile before he got up to follow her. 

* * *

The little wooden boat rocked unsteadily in the water, disturbed by the currents beneath the surface, and as d'Artagnan got in they worried that it would capsize.

"It's alright," Athos said. "Take my hand."

She offered her hand, and d'Artagnan fearfully took it. As they lowered themself down, the boat continued rocking, and it was only once both of them were seated that the teen began to relax.

"Now pass me the oars," Athos ordered. "It's a long way rowing to Fogfall Island and we'll have to take turns. I'll go first, but I'll expect you to be prepared to take over, alright?"

"Alright," d'Artagnan said weakly, and passed up the oars that were stashed in the bottom of the boat.

As their elder sister began to row, d'Artagnan looked back at the shore, knowing with a growing certainty that they might never get to see it again.


	10. I'm So Sorry

A shiver ran down Junjie's spine as he woke up. He could feel that almost his entire body was covered in goosebumps, so he pulled the cover up over his shoulder and tried to get comfortable.

Cracking his eye open, he saw that it was still the middle of the night. In the faint light trickling through the window from the glowing trees outside, he could just about see Perry curled up on the camping bed nearby. Why she'd insisted he take the proper bed was something that eluded him.

It was no good. The goosebumps were still there, and he shivered again.

"Cold wake you up too, lad?"

Her eyes flickered open.

"Ain't nice, is it?" she asked. "You probably won't be able to get back to sleep if there's no way to get warm. So..."

Junjie watched as she stood up, staggering a little from exhaustion, and laid her bedcover over him. He instantly felt warmer, but before he had a chance to thank her, she climbed into the bed next to him.

"Really didn't want to have to do this two nights in a row," she commented, "but if the choices are sitting freezing or sharing a bed, I think option I'd rather go for is pretty damn obvious."

"Indeed," Junjie muttered, wondering if he'd ever accept how shameless this woman could be.

"Anyways, try to kip, okay?" said Perry, and she settled down. "If we really are heading to Fogfall Island, we're going to need our wits about us."

"You never did properly explain what makes that place so frightening," Junjie pointed out. "All you said was that it "ain't nice" and that people didn't like spending the night there. Forgive me, but that barely sounds like a good premise for one of those awful horror movies I've seen Trixie enjoying while everyone else - myself excluded - cowers behind the couch."

With a sigh, Perry rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

"It was meant to be the North's answer to the Western Mech Forge," she explained. "Big reserves of iron and tin got found there a couple of centuries back and they set up a factory for refining the ore and building stuff. Trouble is they didn't have the kind of workplace safety blethers you get nowadays and plenty of folks pegged it. Some were fumes, others got crushed in machinery, some fell into the vats of metal while it was still molten, and even when they weren't working, their dorms were right above the forges so some of them would die of heatstroke in their beds."

Junjie blinked in shock. He hadn't expected _that_ to be the answer. He had prepared himself for some sort of legend about a dragon or a ghost ship or the island itself being alive.

"Didn't help that the place is almost always covered in fog, hence the wonderfully imaginative name," Perry continued. "Meaning supplies, food or medical or whatever, got delayed a hell of a lot, seeing as it were pretty hard to avoid crashing into the rocks around the island or running aground."

"I would have thought they'd show their workers a little more consideration," said Junjie. "Didn't any of them have spouses or children?"

"You what?" said Perry. "JJ, they _were_ children."

Junjie had to consciously keep his jaw from dropping.

"You don't know nothing about history, do you?" asked Perry.

"You mean in the North?" said Junjie. "I spent a majority of my life in the Eastern Caverns, so how could I? But still, are you serious?"

"Aye, totally!" Perry insisted. "Kids weren't always seen as the precious little bundles of joy you see being touted about these days. Back then, if a human were less than four feet tall, they were expendable. Little bodies and hands meant wee bairns could get into way tighter places than any bigjob could, for cleaning and stuff, but nobody gave a rat's arse about them until the century were almost up. Weren't until the 1880s that Linnhe McLinden finally managed to convince those fatcats running the show that the reason the population was dropping in the Britannia region was none of them were getting any chance to grow up!"

The man she lay next to almost recoiled from her sudden anger.

"So they revamped the place and got in adult workers," she continued. "Took 'em the best part of 60 years to realise their mistake, but they got there. Quality of work and produce went up, of course, since the people refining the metal and making the machines were actually old enough to know what they were doing, but a couple of years later, the complaints started."

"Complaints?"

"Of... strangeness. Real proper eldritch stuff. Choking noises where the old dorms used to be in the middle of the night. Screaming around the vats and the bigger machine parts that was way too high pitched to be anyone working there. Strange pools of blood appearing in the night and disappearing before the morning. Small silhouettes being seen out of the corner of the eye and then vanishing whenever someone turned to look. Grey figures walking through walls and closed doors and vanishing into nothing, only to come back the very next night."

Even though he knew this was likely to be nothing more than superstition, a shiver ran down Junjie's spine which had little to do with the cold.

"So the place lasted until the 50s," Perry told him, "then finally got shut down. The papers say it was 'coz of tax evasion, insurance fraud, embezzlement or some shite like that, but I'm willing to bet it's because whoever ran that place didn't want to run a shop where loads of kids had died horribly. Would you?"

"Of course not," said Junjie. "I'm lucky enough to have been born into a world where common sense was more important than money."

Perry smiled at his remark.

"Now do you see why I'm not too happy to be heading to that hellhole?" she asked. "Fogfall Island is rumoured to be the single most haunted locale in _all_ of Slugterra. And it ain't no phony soul-sucking crap like whatever was going on in that Deadweed place. I'm talking genuine lost souls with no way of ever escaping the place where they died all kinds of horrible deaths."

"And those people," muttered Junjie, "whoever they are, they went there without knowing about all of this."

Perry nodded.

"So try to get some sleep, okay?" she said. "And try not to think too much about it. I know I'm bloody well not."

Feeling his eyes hurting from staying open when they shouldn't have been, Junjie rolled onto his side, facing the wall, and pulled the covers up over his shoulder. He felt so much more comfortable now that there were two layers rather than one.

He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep, and silently prayed that his dreams would be absent of the screams of dying children.

* * *

"Oi."

It felt like only seconds later that he was awoken by a light slap on his upper arm, as well as the aforementioned call for attention.

"Time to get up, lad," said Perry. "Benny's just arrived, he's got our gear, so we're suiting up and heading off. And don't worry about making the bed."

Time already?

Junjie rubbed his eye and sat up, just in time for Perry to disappear through the door. He quickly got up to follow her, not wanting to be left behind, and almost fell over because while his mind may have been awakened, his body hadn't quite got there yet.

His sleep had been surprisingly dreamless, he recalled as he pulled on his gear and followed the Northern woman down the stairs. After what she had told him about Fogfall Island, he had expected nightmares about ghostly children throwing him into bubbling vats of molten metal, but no. It was as if he'd blinked and then it was...

...was it morning? It still seemed pretty dark.

As they descended, he recognised Lenny's voice in the hallway below.

"...in only a few days?"

"Of course I didn't manage the entire ridge," said a voice Junjie hadn't heard before. "I may be fantastic, but I'm not _that_ fantastic. I managed to get the Northernmost region and I'll head back as soon as possible to map the rest."

"Yeah, sorry to pull you away from work like this," said Lenny. "I do appreciate you doing this for us."

"I would say it's no trouble," said the stranger's voice, "but I've been riding all night and I'm just about dead on my feet."

They finally emerged to where the hallway was visible, and Perry quickly trotted down to greet the newcomer.

"Hey, Benny!" she said. "It's good to see you again!"

"I could say the same about you," said Benny. "When I heard you would be riding across the Cavern Sea, I started collecting brochures for funeral parlours."

Benny Harper was, of course, blue-skinned like the rest of his siblings. His hair was the same colour as Lenny's and neatly combed over his head and his glasses looked thin yet strong. He was of a similar physical construction to Denny, save that he seemed noticeably taller and somehow lankier. His clothes were rather reminiscent of a teacher, somehow mathematics or geography specifically, and Junjie got the feeling that if he were Eli's age or younger, he would definitely inadvertently refer to him as "Mr Harper" or "Sir".

"You must be the 'other' Lenny informed be about over the phone," he said, and Junjie (who was still only a little less than half asleep) realised he was being spoken to. "Benjamin Disraeli Harper."

"Junjie," said Junjie.

Benny raised an eyebrow. Somehow that one motion felt more patronizing than any insults he could have dished out.

"Indeed," he said. "In any case, I gathered the garments you requested."

He passed Lenny a bag containing... something.

"Now," he said, "if you'll excuse me, there is some important business I must attend to."

He walked into the nearby lounge room, and Junjie jogged down the rest of the stairs just in time to see him position himself in front of the couch and then, slowly and deliberately, as though he were a mighty tree that had just been felled, he fell face first onto the cushions.

After a couple of seconds, he could be heard snoring.

"...right then," said Perry, and she took the bag from Lenny and started rifling through it. "I think there should be- ah!"

She pulled out and presented Junjie with a pair of earmuffs in a dull gold fur and a scarf of a matching colour that bore navy blue and black stripes across its ends. He took them from her hand and looked them over.

"Put those on," Perry said, and she and Lenny made for the stairs. "Trust me, you'll need 'em. Len and I have more kit, so you'll have to wait. You okay with that?"

"...yes," said Junjie, feeling that he didn't have any other options.

He hesitated, waiting until he heard the closing of a door, then examined the articles he had been given.

The earmuffs looked old. Not falling apart, but the fur was a little rough and clumped together in places and the colour must once have been a bright yellow-gold, but now it had faded and become murky and more closely resembled the colour of the actual metal than the artificial over-saturated eye-burner it probably was to begin with. He slotted them onto his head and was surprised with how comfortable they were, and how they didn't itch around his ears and threaten to cause an ugly rash.

The scarf didn't look too bad either. It was dirty and faded, certainly, and the tassels on its ends were looking more than a little ragged, but the wool was still neat and felt soft on his fingers, to the point that they felt dried out. It must have been tucked away for rather a long time to be in this condition. He wrapped it around his neck, tucking it into his collar, and almost instantly felt warmer.

"Comfy?"

He looked back to see Lenny descending the stairs, having exchanged her short sleeved light green turtleneck shirt for one with long sleeves and put on a pair of vibrant blue earmuffs that looked in far better condition than Junjie's.

"Those are pretty ancient, I know, but it would be a waste to throw them out," she said. "I'd appreciate it if you could go up there and tell Perry to get a move on, because she does like to take her sweet time getting ready. Don't blame her though. Has she told you about Fogfall Island?"

"About how it used to be a manufacturing plant staffed by children which is now supposedly haunted by their restless lingering souls?" asked Junjie. "Yes, she may have mentioned it at some point."

Lenny rolled her eyes.

"That's Perry for you," she said. "Anything supernatural, she latches onto it like a leech. I'm betting she told you about the reports of hauntings, but all the people who went ghosthunting there never found anything conclusive so those aren't much more than rumours now. Don't get me wrong, the child labour part is true, but the haunting is up for dispute."

"So what's the real reason the forge was closed?" asked Junjie.

Lenny hesitated, her expression thoughtful.

"You know," she said, "it never was perfectly clear. I heard they ran out of money, but other people said it was because the owner was dodging taxes, I read one old report saying it was because of corruption and money laundering and another saying it was insurance fraud. I don't think the truth will ever come out, but I highly doubt they shut down the factory because of things going bump in the night."

Junjie wanted to feel reassured, but mysterious pools of blood appearing and disappearing for no reason could hardly be described as a thing going bump in the night.

Then again, this was Perry talking, so they were probably little more than stray patches of oil.

"So if you could chivy her on," said Lenny, "I'll bring our mechs out and set them up so we're ready to go. Just brace yourself though, because she never actually learned what shame was, so there's a good chance she'll undress in front of you and not give a damn."

"I'd already gathered that," Junjie commented, recalling how gladly she'd showered in front of him during his first morning in the North.

So while Lenny departed through the front door, Junjie headed back up the stairs - doing his best to ignore the still-snoring cartographer not ten metres away - and jogged up to the room he and Perry had slept in last night.

As he approached the open door, he heard speaking coming from within, and it was pretty obvious who it was.

"Now listen, lads," she said. "I'm going to need all of you to be on top form today. The best behaviour it's possible for any of you to have. You especially, Fury. I got my eye on you."

Junjie heard an indignant squeak.

"Seeing as there isn't any choice in the matter, we're all heading up to Fogfall Island," said Perry, "and I don't think I need to tell any of you what that'll mean if we mess about. You remember that theatre back in Symphogna? It'll be like that, only surrounded by the cries of the damned and an inescapable torrent of freezing, watery death. If you lot aren't on tip-top form, that'll be our graves and nobody will ever think or dare to come looking for us. You got that?"

Squeaks of approval could be heard from within the room.

"Good."

With the consultation apparently over, Junjie knocked on the door.

He found Perry wearing a red cloche hat with a black ribbon, a red scarf with its ends tucked into her jacket and a long sleeved black shirt worn under her jacket and dress, but over her gloves. Her leggings seemed a deeper, richer shade of black (yes, somehow it was a different shade of _black_ ); presumably she'd switched them out for a thicker set more suited to the climate they would be entering.

She held her belts forward, showing that there were enough canisters for all of her slugs to hop into - which they did so - and holstered her blaster on her back as she stood up.

"You ready to go then, mate?" she asked.

"Yes," said Junjie.

"Good," Perry replied, and she strode past him down the corridor. "So let's set off before any of us get cold feet."

* * *

The day was finally bright as they set off, cantering along the track cut through the wood and surrounded by early morning birdsong.

"Are you hungry, JJ?" asked Perry from beside him, and he saw that she was offering him a sandwich tightly bound in cling wrap.

Junjie realised he hadn't had any breakfast, and gratefully accepted it.

"It's that chicken from last night," Perry told him. "I noticed you liked that one a lot, so put this together for you before you woke up."

"You'd better appreciate it," Lenny said. "That's as good as Perry's cooking gets."

"Oi, that ain't true!" Perry argued while Junjie eagerly unwrapped his sandwich. "I made those scrambled eggs that one time, remember?"

"Scrambled eggs?!" Lenny exclaimed. "Everybody thought that was rock-cake flavour chewing gum!"

Perry rolled her eyes, and Junjie took a bite of his sandwich. It didn't taste as good as it had last night, but it was still very nice.

"Just to let you know," Perry said as Lenny bit into her own sandwich, "we'll be cutting through Highland Cavern on our way to the ferry, so you'll get a bit of a glimpse of the place I grew up in. Neat. eh?"

Rather than struggling to swallow his mouthful and risking choking, Junjie simply nodded.

"I don't suppose it's too late to back out," asked Lenny once she had swallowed.

"You don't have to come in, Len," said Perry. "You can wait outside for us where there ain't any ghosties or ghoulies or wee screaming beasties."

"That," said Lenny, "is the best idea you've had all weak."

"I'd just like to know something," Junjie said, having downed the first bite of his sandwich. "I overheard you talking to your slugs earlier about 'an inescapable torrent of freezing, watery death' and I'd like to know if you're saying that because the waters around the island are dangerous or because you wouldn't be able to get out without help from either of us."

"If you must know, it's both," Perry replied. "I'll tell you more when we get to the ferry, lad. It'll be much easier to explain it there where you can see it than it would be talking about it while trying to ride and eat at the same time, you ken?"

She unwrapped her own sandwich and took a bite, somehow managing to smile while she chewed.

Resolved to the situation, Junjie continued eating, but kept his attention on where his companions were heading.

As they rode, he noticed that the region seemed to be growing colder with every step of their mecha's feet on the ground. Even though he was fully dressed, even equipped with a scarf and set of earmuffs, he could feel goosebumps creeping up his back and all along his arms and legs. Since he was fully awake this time, he was able to resist shivering, but only barely.

No wonder Perry was so aggressive. Somehow her hot temper would probably keep her warm. And if she had equipped herself for a cold apparently beyond this place, that meant the temperature was likely to drop even more.

As they approached a large tunnel, he glanced at the other two riders. Neither looked too concerned about the direction they were moving in, no matter how cold it was getting. At least Snowdance Cavern, from what he had seen, seemed fairly insulated and the cold mostly remained within the ice, but since there was none of that here, it just lingered in the air. Hopefully they could reach their destination before their mechas began to ice up.

The tunnel was only barely wide enough for the three of them to ride through side-by-side, and there would probably have been more space if Lenny's vehicle hadn't been so wide.

But as they rode through, Junjie noticed the walls around them becoming less and less bare the further in they traveled. The roof and the stalactites hanging from it were veined with a faint yellowish shimmer that a longer period of inspection proved to be gold. Streaks of lumino ore stood out here and there, lighting their way more effectively than lamps probably could have, as well as a grey metal of too dull a shine to be silver and far thicker stripes of brownish-orangish-red that looked powdery, yet somehow solid.

"Getting a good look?" asked Lenny.

"We'll be coming through to the cavern proper soon," Perry said. "Word of advice though."

"What?" asked Junjie.

"Duck."

Looking up ahead, he saw that the exit to the tunnel was somewhat smaller than the entrance they had come through, even from this distance.

"Len, you go first!" Perry commanded. "Yours is the biggest, so if you get wedged we can just push you on through!"

"I know that!" Lenny responded.

She revved her engine and sped up, pulling ahead of them by a considerable amount.

"You next, JJ!" said Perry. "Wait 'til she's through and then do your bike thing!"

Junjie nodded.

Up ahead, Lenny maneuvered her ride through the tunnels' exit, so Junjie pulled his earmuffs down, donned his helmet (just in case) and switched to bike mode.

Perry fell behind as he sped forward, the light from the glow in the walls flashing past him as he zoomed to the tunnel exit, then leaped through and skidded to a halt on the ground outside.

Quite an exhilarating five seconds that had been.

"So then," he said as he surveyed their new surroundings, "this is Highland Cavern."

"Yep," said Lenny. "It's pretty obvious where the name comes from."

The tunnel they had emerged from lay at the base of only one of dozens of immense hills that stretched into the distance, varying in size from only small mounds to immense mountains that almost touched the cavern roof. They were covered in trees and bushes and solid, sharp-looking rocks, while the smaller ones simply bore coatings of soft-looking grass. One nearby had a large boulder on it which seemed to have a spring spouting from underneath, as a steady stream of water was flowing down and near where Junjie transformed his mecha back into beast mode, it babbled into a brook.

Amazingly, it wasn't frozen. It didn't even have ice in it. Yet still, the air felt frigid and frosty. Junjie checked his hair as he put his earmuffs back on to make sure it didn't have icicles hanging from it.

"Nice, ain't it?" Perry said when she had joined them. "Come on, we're following the brook."

She steered away and led her followers along the side of the babbling stream, which grew wider as they rode with more springs joining the flow and pouring water into the open air. Junjie guessed that if he were to touch it, it would be horrifically cold.

"You say this is the cavern you're from," he said, "but where?"

"What do you mean?" asked Perry.

"I don't see any settlements of any sort in these hills," Junjie pointed out, "and they look far too barbarous for any sensible person to comfortably dwell in, so-"

"Same hat!" Perry suddenly shouted, standing up in her saddle and waving to something up on a ridge.

"Same hat!" yelled a young woman who was, indeed, wearing the same hat as Perry.

Junjie looked closer.

She was watering flowers in a window box, with the window itself being a hole in a rock face.

"Now you see, lad?" asked Perry. "There ain't any people living on these hills 'coz they live _inside_ them. Used to be full of mines, this place was, 'til they turned out to be ruining the ecosystem or something and it all got shut down. That's why you see a couple of hills what're smaller than others. 'Coz they got hollowed out too much and collapsed in on themselves what with no-one thinking to put better supports in."

So she lived in a mine. Somehow that seemed fitting for a woman of her nature.

Junjie looked around again. Now that he knew for sure this place was inhabited, he could see little signs of life all over the hills and ranges. Trees that had laundry pegged out to dry on their branches. A little waterfall tumbling over a rock was connected to a gutter system that led through a hole in a cliff and, presumably, into somebody's home. When he properly listened, he could hear distant conversations, and with how muffled they were they could only have been coming from somewhere under the ground.

Sure enough, in the side of a hill up ahead, there was another tunnel. This one held up by wooden beams reinforced with props of metal.

"Good morning, Miss McLinden!" called a man who was sitting just outside puffing on a pipe.

"Morning, Arnold!" Perry replied as she passed, and to Junjie she quickly whispered, "That's Arnold. He's a bit of a tosser but he tries his best."

Now that he knew what was going on, Junjie finally realised that the babbling of the brook had grown somewhat louder in the time he had been riding, and when he looked down he saw that it had expanded into a river wide and presumably deep enough for comfortable swimming - in his case, at least - though somehow he got the feeling that its calm, rippling exterior was not to be trusted.

When he looked ahead, he saw that it grew wider still, though luckily its bank was still large enough for all three of them to comfortably fit.

"Keep an eye out while you're here," Lenny said to him. "You might see a Mistspitter somewhere. They like cold, dingy places."

"This place ain't dingy!" Perry argued.

"You're only saying that because you live here!" Lenny replied. "How is it you people can live like that? Underground all the time?"

"Underground is warmer!" said Perry. "And you'd be amazed how much the natural lighting of lumino ore can cut down on your energy costs!"

"If you like COLD showers!" said Lenny.

Perry rolled her eyes.

"For the record," she said to Junjie, "we do have water heating here. It just takes a while 'coz of the stone being cold as crivens."

"Right," said Junjie, who hadn't exactly been concerned about this caverns' plumbing systems.

They kept riding, occasionally passing a bridge that led over the growing river and Perry greeting folks she knew every now and again. With how roughly she behaved, it was odd to think that a woman like her even had a home to begin with, let alone that she could be so friendly with the people who lived there. Picking fights in taverns and shouting and swearing didn't seem like the actions of a person who would gladly say hello to random citizens and passers-by just because they happened to be near.

Maybe it was because this was her home, so this was where she felt most comfortable?

In any case, it felt strange and somehow a little invasive to be seeing this side of her. Saying good morning and passing compliments to people she didn't have any obvious personal connections to.

The river kept widening until they reached its end, where it opened out into a vast expanse of water which would easily have been mistaken for a part of the Cavern Sea if Junjie didn't know better. They all drew to a halt to get a better look at the view.

And out on that expanse was a dense cloud of mist.

"You see it, don't you?" asked Perry.

"If by 'it' you mean the immense bank of fog that's impossible to miss," said Junjie, "then yes, I see it."

"Yes," said Lenny. "And we're going to have to go into that."

"S'alright," Perry said confidently. "We got the ferry, after all. I weren't about to make us go swimming. Definitely not in Dead Man's Dardanelles."

Dead Man's Dardanelles? Was that the name of this strait? It sounded like the result of a brainstorming meeting to come up with the most threatening possible name for a stretch of water.

"C'mon," said Perry. "Let's be there and back before night comes, because I do NOT fancy sleeping over on Fogfall Island."

They rode along the side of the water, the shoreline widening before them as if to grant them entrance. It wasn't long before Junjie caught sight of an arrangement up ahead: two houses, a jetty and a small ship floating nearby as if waiting for someone to board it.

"I assume that's the ferry we'll be taking?" asked Junjie.

"You assume right, lad," Perry responded. "We'll have to call out the blokes what run it though. Shouldn't take long. You got the cash, Len?"

"Yes I do, six gold coins just like we need," said Lenny.

"Only six?" asked Junjie.

"Aye, two for each of us," said Perry. "Cheap, I know, but I already said they get a lot of customers."

"And that's because we do anything..."

"Anywhere..."

Junjie almost leaped back in shock when he caught sight of a trio of Molenoids standing mere feet away where only moments ago there had been nobody, and two of them were angrily glaring at a third, who was paying more attention to a tablet device in his hand.

"Quincy!" hissed one, who seemed quite lanky and bore combed hair and a waistcoat.

"Hmm?" the second, who had sideburns and glasses, said absentmindedly.

"Oh, why do we even bother with this rubbish?!" exclaimed the third, who was squat with messy hair and a beard. "We spend two weeks coming up with a good catchphrase and you can't even be bothered to do it properly!"

"Will you stop complaining?" the second said angrily.

"No, he's right, I don't know why I bother," said the first, crossing his arms in a huff.

"What's all this about then?" asked Perry. "You lads ain't thinking of leaving, are you?"

"Well, what sort of life are we supposed to have if all we do is take people to an abandoned island and back?" asked the first sadly. "No, we want a life of adventure! Where every day is different from the last and you never know what's coming next!"

While he continued rambling, much to the bearded one's annoyance and the bespectacled one's chagrin, Lenny leaned over to Junjie.

"John is the one with the combed hair and waistcoat," she muttered, "Quincy is the one with sideburns and glasses and Adam is the one with the beard."

"Understood," said Junjie.

"No, you're barmy!" Adam angrily cut John off. "There's no way a sissy wimp like you would last 5 minutes in a duel!"

"And you have absolutely _no_ way of knowing that," John said smugly.

"But that spider on your shoulder might," said Quincy without even looking up.

John jumped about a foot into the air with a high-pitched whimper, and Perry rolled her eyes at the prank.

"Look, I'm sorry," said Quincy, finally looking up from his device, "but some of us are actually invested in the job we have at the moment. I'm keeping an eye on the forecast!"

"Oh really?" asked Adam. "And what's the forecast?"

Quincy looked back to his device.

"Wet and deadly," he said.

"And what was it yesterday?" asked John.

The four-eyed Molenoid swiped his thumb across the screen.

"West and deadly," he reported.

"So just taking a guess, what's it got a good chance of being tomorrow, Quince?" asked Perry.

Quincy meekly pocketed his device.

"Wet and... deadly," he said weakly.

"It's always wet and deadly!" Perry pointed out.

"Especially for you," Junjie muttered under his breath.

"What's that, JJ?"

"Nothing."

"What do you expect?" asked Quincy. "It wasn't called Dead Man's Dardanelles for nothing!"

"In any case, we'd like to cross to the island before next week," Lenny interjected, "so if we could get a move on..."

"Right, right!" said Adam. "C'mon, lads!"

The trio ran over to the jetty and the boat that sat beside it.

"They don't seem like they're native to this cavern," Junjie commented as they slowly rode over to the jetty.

"That's 'coz they ain't," said Perry. "The Companimole brothers are from Ludgate Cavern. They set up this ferry because people wanted to see the island and the bros needed some cash."

"They've had other schemes for money," said Lenny, "but none of them worked out."

"Don't worry about your rides," Perry informed her companions as they dismounted. "The day a moron tries to rob Perry McLinden is the day hospitals get extra patients."

So Lenny and Junjie dismounted, and the three of them jumped down onto the ferry.

"And we're off!" Quincy said proudly, and true to his word, the boat rumbled away from the jetty.

"So you're all thinking of starting a new business?" asked Lenny.

"Absolutely correct!" Adam replied cheerfully. "We're opening an all-purpose instant aid organisation doing anything, anytime!"

"That sounds like an interesting concept," Lenny commented. "Just as long as it works out better than your lighthouse keeping."

"Well..." John said.

"Or your attempt at veterinary psychology."

"There was a reason-" Quincy tried.

"Or teaching martial arts."

"That, erm..." Adam trailed off.

As the listing continued, Junjie looked over the rails at the passing water below. It was extraordinarily clear, like crystal, and he could see all the way to the bottom of the channel. From where he stood, it looked shallow enough to only come up to his waist, and he was tempted to jump in and go for a swim.

"Pretty, ain't it?" asked Perry as she joined him at the railing.

"It is," said Junjie. "So I can't help wondering..."

"...why it's called Dead Man's Dardanelles?" Perry finished for him. "Take another look."

He did. He looked down again at the pale floor of the strait.

And then he saw it. The bent, warped, punctured shapes of metal hulls, bleached almost completely white. Scattered steering wheels, rudders and propellers long since broken away from their original positions. A round, smooth, creamy-white globe that was unmistakably a human skull.

"Under that pristine surface," said Perry, "are currents so strong and so fast that you wouldn't even be able to come up for breath. You'd be dragged down, all the way to the bottom, and you'd be pinned there until either hypothermia got you or you drowned. Even professional divers don't come up from Dead Man's Dardanelles. Nobody does."

Sure enough, as the ferry drifted past, Junjie saw the unambiguous outline of an oxygen tank, still strapped to the remains of its long-dead user.

"Yet another horror of Fogfall Island," he murmured.

While he stared, Perry leaned back from the railing.

"Oi, mole-faces!" she shouted. "You had any other customers in the past few days?"

"That would be a no," replied John. "We did see a couple of boats headed out into the fog over the past week, but what they were doing was their business and none of us wanted to get in their way."

"So they're dead," said Adam.

"Isn't it a little unreasonable to assume-"

"They were in flimsy little rowboats, so they're dead," Adam interrupted. "We've got a big proper boat here, but they were headed out in poxy little wooden things, so either they made it to the island or they didn't. Whichever it was, they're dead. Deader than a door nail in a ditch of duck dung."

The conversation presumably ended by that bizarre alliterative remark, Junjie looked back down into the water, finding himself sickly fascinated by the sight of all the decomposing vessels and unfortunate people who crewed them.

He remained captivated until tendrils of mist shrouded the water's surface from view, and his gaze was finally broken. One of the mole brothers switched on lamps atop the ship which pierced through the fog like a knife, and it wasn't long before another jetty came in view, this one in far worse shape than the one they had departed from. It seemed to be mostly supported by a metal structure that stood at one corner, and when Junjie looked closer, he saw a Phosphoro slug sitting in a well-furnished tank within it.

"Oi," Junjie heard Adam say. "Give that to Flare, would you? Should keep her going until the next bozos come over."

"Okie-doke," said Perry, and there was the rustling sound of a bag being taken.

The boat came to a rest by the side of the jetty.

"Thank you for using Companimole Ferries," John recited as the trio of passengers climbed off, "even though we know you didn't have any choice in the matter, now can we please leave because this place is already giving me the creeps!"

"Say no more!" said Adam, and the boat reversed out of sight.

While Perry emptied the bag of slug food into a hatch on the tube at the corner of the jetty, Junjie and Lenny looked up at the building that occupied a majority of the island.

It was an immense monstrosity of steel and concrete that loomed out of the fog like a shadow of inescapable dread. This must have been what the children who worked there must have felt like when they first arrived: small, insignificant, terrified of what fate might befall them once they were to step within those towering walls.

Junjie gulped.

"Yeah," said Lenny, "pretty much."

"Dear sweet crivens, this place is eldritch," Perry said as she walked over. "Let's deal with this issue and get the hell out of here before we get haunted to death or something. Lenny, I won't force you to come in, so if you like you can stay here and keep Flare company. Poor thing probably gets lonely out here all by herself."

"Thank you," Lenny said gratefully, and she walked back over to the Phosphoro's tank.

"As for you..." Perry looked up at Junjie with a face of apology.

"I've never been frightened of ghosts," said Junjie. "I see no reason why I should start now. I've seen abandoned structures before. Though I'll admit this one is easily the most intimidating I've encountered."

"Then we'll get it over with," Perry said. "You know how back in Firewall I said I owe you a drink? After this, it'll be a strong one."

Reassured somehow by the promise of alcohol, Junjie felt himself smile, and he looked back up at the massive building with his heart burning with determination.

* * *

D'Artagnan knew what they were doing was wrong.

They knew that there would be consequences if they were discovered.

They knew that they would be punished.

But they also knew that their sisters needed help, whether they wanted it or not.

The teenager kept this in mind, repeating it over and over, as they descended through the groaning building and found another maintenance entrance. There were quite a few dotted about. It wasn't surprising. It was, after all, a large factory.

So d'Artagnan unlocked it, and found a stick to wedge underneath it and prop it open.

Then they ran in search of the next.


	11. I Want It All

**(DEATH WARNING - This chapter will contain scenes of death and mild gore. Read at your own risk)**

As they approached the intimidating building, Junjie caught sight of something shiny that Perry was fiddling with.

"Why do you have that?" he asked.

"While you were oh so fascinated by the graveyard otherwise known as Dead Man's Dardanelles," she said, "Lenny told me she wouldn't feel good knowing we were heading into this hellhole if I didn't have this with me."

She held up a pot that Junjie recognised as the Boon Doc salve which had healed his hands.

"And considering what happened the last couple of times we tried a thing like this," she continued, "I get the feeling we might need it."

The building seemed to grow even more looming and eerie as they approached, and Junjie could have sworn he heard a not-too-distant groaning.

"I have a feeling they won't want us walking in through the front door," he mentioned.

"Not to worry, JJ," said Perry. "It's a factory. There'll be plenty of entrances and exits for emergencies and maintenance. The trick is finding one that opens without letting the whole of Slugterra know where we are, because with how old this place is, I'm betting it'll squeak."

Junjie looked up at the monstrosity as they drew closer. He could see a thin, flimsy-looking set of steps zigzagging up one side, chimneys that towered above like massive snuffed-out cigarettes, surprisingly lush green vines reaching up the concrete and steel walls and the few visible windows were long since shattered and opaque with caked-on dirt.

"We'll check round the sides," said Perry. "There's bound to be a way in somewhere along here."

The building groaned again, unsettling in its volume, as the pair crept along the rusting steel walls. Despite its obvious disrepair, Junjie somehow got the feeling that this place wasn't going to collapse anytime soon. It seemed like it had definitely been built to last, as opposed to the theatre and the power station, which would have had round-the-clock repairs and maintenance during their heyday. And there were certainly some parts that were obviously newer than others, so despite Perry and Lenny's explanation of its liquidation, it was clear that _someone_ had meant for the place to stay in business.

Perhaps, then, they really should have reconsidered their hiring practices and not made 12 years old the maximum age.

"Over there!" Perry suddenly whispered.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him over rough rocks and sharp saplings to where a door labelled "Emergency Exit" stood out from the steel wall.

"This will be troublesome," he pointed out. "Doors like these are designed to open outward, so breaking it inward may be a challenge."

"Not to worry," said Perry, and she pulled up one of her canisters. "Fury will be able to handle it, won't you?"

The reddish Infurnus nodded confidently, and she slotted him into her blaster, took aim-

-and the door opened.

Both slingers stared in befuddlement at the teen who now stood there, staring at them both.

"You came," they said, their voice a mixture of resignation and relief.

Fury hopped out, taking a place on Perry's shoulder, and she holstered her blaster.

"Of course we did, ladsie," she said. "It's my job to make sure folks like your sisters don't get away with what they're doing."

"I knew you would," said d'Artagnan, and stood aside to allow them entrance. "I knew you'd come for us. I've been going around this whole place opening doors for you because I knew you'd want a way in."

"Your sisters will be angry that you've betrayed them," Junjie pointed out as they entered the building.

"Not as angry as our parents would be if they could see what we've done!" cried d'Artagnan. "If Mom and Dad knew the horrible things we've had to do and what we're still trying to do, they'd sell us all over again!"

"Sell you?!" Perry could barely contain her outrage.

"This isn't the time," Junjie said, and he tried to subtly press her back. "I assume there's a drill here trying to access dark water, correct?"

"It's true," said d'Artagnan. "But it hasn't actually dug anything up yet. Those ghouls you've seen Athos, Porthos and Aramis using? They're left over from when we worked for Dr Blakk. We haven't been able to ghoul any slugs since we got here. We just haven't found enough dark water. Or enough slugs to use it on."

"Thank crivens," Perry sighed.

"But they won't stop," d'Artagnan said. "I already told you they won't stop. Listen; Athos is on the main factory floor, Porthos is in the refinery and Aramis is standing guard near the front entrance. Please try to talk them down and tell them what they're doing is wrong!"

"We will," Junjie assured the frightened youth. "We'll find them and we'll put a stop to this whole operation."

"Thank you," d'Artagnan sighed. "I'm sure they'll thank you too once they realise what they were doing. I'll go and find Aramis and try to keep her distracted while you guys move in, is that okay?"

"That would be very helpful," Junjie replied as he recalled his and Perry's first encounter with the braided woman.

"Hang on a tick," Perry said.

Before d'Artagnan had a chance to run away, she presented them with the pot.

"This stuff was made for cuts and bruises, so I'm not sure how much help it'll be," she explained, "but it should at least take the edge off on your neck, okay? And don't worry about giving it back. We can always find a way to make more."

Still nervous, d'Artagnan accepted the pot.

"Thank you," they repeated.

And then they ran.

"Poor kid," muttered Perry. "Wish there was something else I could do for 'em."

"For now, we should focus on the sisters," said Junjie. "Do you have a plan?"

"Actually, this time, I do," Perry said, and Junjie couldn't avoid feeling a little annoyed by how surprised and proud she sounded. "If that bairn can keep the one by the door distracted, that just leaves the refinery and the main factory floor. If I head to the latter, will you be able to go to the former and talk the mad lass down?"

"Talk down?" Junjie was confused by the order. "You aren't interested in fighting anymore?"

"Not if they're sick and dying, no," said Perry, and she pointed at directory signs on the wall nearby. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," Junjie said. "You just caught me a little off-guard, that's all."

"Well, for criven's sake, get _on-_ guard," said Perry. "Meet up with me here afterwards if you make it out alive, got it?"

"Got it," Junjie said with a nod.

The determination in his heart now feeling rather grim, Junjie followed the arrow labelled 'refinery' while Perry hurried in the other direction.

* * *

The walls were still groaning, but Junjie forced himself to ignore it. The building was old, sure, but if it was structurally unsound it would likely have collapsed by now, as he could feel the same vibrations in the floor as he had felt in the theatre and the power station.

He took a deep breath. The air was musty and smelled of iron and rust, and it chilled his nostrils to breathe, and he could have sworn that right on the edge was the faintest possible scent of rotten meat.

He tried to ignore it. It wasn't possible for it to exist. It was just his mind playing a trick on him.

Focus. Focus on the job. Focus on the goal. He had to _focus_.

So he did. He narrowed his mind and reached forward, and he noticed the presences of corrupted slugs in the room he was making his way to. A very small number of them. The woman he sought had a very small arsenal.

Behind him, something moaned.

Quick as a whip, he looked round.

There was nothing and nobody.

'It's in my head,' he told himself as turned back and kept walking. 'There's nothing there. It's all in my head.'

Steeling his resolve, he kept walking, and when he finally reached a large set of double doors labelled "Refinery" he pushed them open.

The ceiling reached so high that it was lost to darkness, thanks in part to the narrow streaks of daylight that streamed in and didn't even touch the ground. The massive vats that had once brimmed with molten metal towered overhead, long since emptied if not sitting with hardened residue in their corners and draughts whistling around their walls. Dust was drifting down from the ceiling and only barely magnifying the light from the boarded up, broken windows.

After a few more tentative steps forward, Junjie looked up. He could see a catwalk high above, suspended by cables and stretching over the abandoned vats, and when he focused, he could tell that up there was where the corrupted slugs were.

And over there, on the far side of the huge room, was a narrow spiral staircase.

If that woman was up there, she would _definitely_ see him.

Nothing else for it.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself once again to ignore the scent of blood.

And he ran for it. He pressed forward as hard and fast as his legs would allow him and sprinted across the floor. Above him he heard a yell of alarm as the woman noticed him, but by then he was already at the staircase and climbing as quickly as he could.

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" the woman - Porthos - shouted.

Junjie didn't obey. With the state of the woman's arm, there wasn't any way she'd be able to fire very many slugs at a time, so he considered himself relatively safe.

About halfway up, he paused and looked up at the catwalk, where Porthos was struggling to reload her blaster with only one hand.

It didn't take him long to figure out what to do. He slotted his Thresher into a blaster and fired, and guided the rapidly spinning Megamorph through the air, slicing through the catwalk's floors and railings until the woman was left on an isolated stretch no more than three metres long, swinging slowly from side to side.

Knowing she was contained, Junjie ran up the rest of the stairs and jumped onto the secured end of the catwalk.

"You don't have anywhere else to run," he told her. "So let's talk."

"Talk?" Porthos didn't seem happy, to say the least. "What the hell do we have to talk about?!"

She fired. Junjie got a glance of something angry speeding towards him before he dodged aside and it slammed into the wall.

"You should know by now that Ms McLinden and I will be able to defeat you and your siblings," he told her. "So the least-"

"How do you know we're siblings?!" Porthos demanded. "Was it d'Artagnan? D'Artagnan told you, didn't they? They always were the weakest. I swear, if you hurt them-"

"We didn't," Junjie interjected. "All we did was talk to them. And they wanted us to talk to you too. They're very worried about you... Porthos? Is it alright if I call you that?"

At the mention of her name, the woman's anger seemed to ever-so-slightly subside.

"Listen, Porthos," he continued, taking a few steps forward onto the groaning catwalk. "D'Artagnan told us about how you've all been hurt by dark water. If you stop trying to continue Dr Blakk's work, or at least explain why you're doing it, we can try to help you. I'm sure it isn't too late for us to find some kind of cure for the Deep Caverns' effects on your bodies."

He continued moving towards her, even though he did _not_ like how the cables seemed to be groaning.

"You should know what will happen if more ghouls are created," he told her. "Your actions have already made people sick and corrupted plants and the land they grow on. Ghouls were never supposed to exist and the presence of them and the dark water that creates them is hurting Slugterra. Is the destruction of this world really what you and your siblings want?"

He halted right where his slug had cut through the floor, and he offered his hand for the woman to take.

"Please," he said. "Allow us to help you. Whatever happened in the 99 Caverns, please don't allow it to continue here."

The severed catwalk continued to swing gently to and fro as he waited for her response.

Porthos' face creased into a scowl.

"Your precious 99 Caverns never did anything for us," she snarled, "and neither has the rest of this wretched world. So if we're going down, we're taking this hellhole with us!"

She raised her blaster again. At this range Junjie would have no chance of dodging in time.

Unfortunately, he didn't need to.

As Porthos' reddened, weeping finger tightened on her trigger, the cables supporting the section of walkway where she stood gave a final, almighty, heaving groan and snapped, and she fell forward with a yelp of shock.

Not even thinking, Junjie dived forward and caught her wrist, and only just managed to grab hold of the railing in time to avoid falling with her. The snapped off-catwalk dangled freely as Porthos' blaster toppled down and bounced twice on the ground far below before smashing to pieces.

Junjie could feel his teeth grinding and arms screaming with the effort of holding onto her weight. He could barely even breathe as he opened his eyes and saw her staring up at him in shock, seemingly amazed that somebody was honestly and unironically trying to save her life.

"Just hold on!" he gasped, forcing his feet back onto the walkway. "I can pull you up, just hold on!"

Porthos glanced from his desperate face to her arm, where the sleeve bore a growing patch of crimson.

"Please," she said, "tell Athos-"

She never got to finish.

The sound of ripping flesh was sickening as her withered, bleeding arm finally gave way, and while Junjie's body was relieved to no longer bear the stress of another person's weight, he could only watch in horror as Porthos fell, eyes wide and mouth gaping in a final silent scream.

Her body slammed into the ground with a stomach-churning _crunch_.

Seconds ticked past as Junjie hung there, clinging to the railing, looking down past the arm he still held at her crumpled, lifeless body.

His glove was wet with her blood.

Numb with shock, he pulled his body up onto the catwalk, then fired his Arachnet at the ceiling and held onto its silk. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Porthos, who lay motionless in a small pool of blood, as he was lowered down to the ground beside her corpse.

He'd failed.

He'd agreed to talk her down.

He'd _promised_ it.

And now...

Now he'd failed.

She was dead.

She was dead.

She was.

 _Dead._

Her eyes were still wide and her mouth hanging open in confusion. She stared up at the ceiling, her eyes glassy and devoid of...

Everything.

And he still held her torn-off arm in his hand, leaking her blood all over his fingers.

Junjie couldn't breathe. He felt bile rising in his throat and quickly turned away, finally dropping the disembodied arm, and only managed to stagger a few steps before he fell to his knees and vomited onto the floor, clutching his stomach as it writhed painfully inside his body.

He coughed.

He felt disgusting.

Once the last foul-tasting dregs were gone, he wiped his mouth on the back of his glove.

He felt Joo-Joo leap onto his shoulder, and when he looked, the greying Infurnus was eyeing him with worry.

But Junjie couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound like an excuse.

He stood up, even though his legs barely seemed strong enough to hold his weight, and he forced himself to walk back to where Porthos lay, still staring emptily into nothingness.

"...I'm sorry..." was all he could mutter. "...I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

He kneeled beside her, reached forward with a trembling hand, and closed her eyes.

Had this been inevitable?

Had this woman been doomed from the start?

Had his promises been as empty as he had been trying to avoid?

He didn't know.

In any case...

He reached back and picked up the arm he had dropped, and rested it across her stomach.

Then he slipped his arms under her chest and knees and pulled her from the ground.

Forcing himself to ignore the blood now spreading across his clothes and struggling a little to support her weight, he carried her away from the refinery.

* * *

Her fists were clenched as she strode through the building, ignoring the deep groaning from the walls that seemed to surround and follow her with every step she took.

The building _was_ haunted. She knew that for sure. Every single person who had insisted that believers were just silly, imagining things or jumping at shadows hadn't actually come to this hellhole, and everybody who _had_ come here left saying the same thing. That there was something _WRONG_ with this island and the building that sat upon it like an incurable disease.

But right now Perry was far too pissed off to actually think about that, and much more focused on getting these bastards to stop what they were doing and leave her homelands.

Upon finally finding the appropriate door, she decided that simply opening it - or even kicking it in - was far too soft for the likes of _them_.

She loaded up Fury and fired him, and the Infurnus' flames plunged into the door, heating it until it glowed a vivid cherry red.

Then she loaded Dave and fired him too, and the Frostcrawler spat sub-zero blizzards onto the door, rapidly freezing the metal until it splintered and cracked.

And then she fired Graeme, who punched forward, smashed into the crystallized metal and shattered it into smithereens.

Hoping that had got her point across, she stepped over the threshold and onto the factory floor, her slugs leaping back up to join her as she strode.

"Oi, bitchface!" she shouted. "I know you're in here somewhere, d'Artagnan told us you'd be! So come on out where I can get a good look at your ugly mug!"

She could see the drill grumbling up ahead, in an empty space surrounded by conveyor belts and assorted constructional machinery from days long past, and her fists clenched even tighter as she walked briskly over to where it was attacking the ground.

Along the way, an idea occurred to her, and she picked up a long exhaust pipe that had long since been left to rot and was now coated in a thick layer of reddish-brown rust that had made it almost as hard and heavy as a rock.

"Fine then," she decided, making sure her voice was as loud as possible. "If you ain't here to stop me-"

And _that_ was when she was quite rudely cut off by blaster fire and a ghoul came rushing at her, screaming a high-pitched yowl of rage and hatred. Rather than standing there like a thick moron and letting herself get hit, she raised the pipe and whacked it aside, and it careened away and slammed into the wall.

"If you even think about damaging that drill-"

"Too late!" Perry shouted at the approaching woman - Athos was her name, right? - who still held her blaster aloft. "I'm already thinking about it! And you know what else I'm thinking?"

She brandished the rusty pipe again, the familiar heat of anger and power burning her face like a wildfire.

"I'm thinking if you try to slug me again," she said, "then I'll whack whatever shot you make straight into this thing and let _you_ be the one to bring it down. Sound good? Or are you going to put that bloody blaster down?"

"As if I'd yield to you!" Athos scoffed, and she fired again.

Perry whacked the ghoul to her other side and it smashed into the side of the drill, which emitted a worrying low-pitched whining noise as a result. Athos glared at it in annoyance, then looked back at the woman who had caused it.

"What, you thought I was joshing you, did you?" Perry demanded. "Your next shot'll go right back in your face!"

Athos still didn't lower her blaster.

"Look, lass," said Perry, trying against her own will to calm down and lowering her improvised weapon as evidence. "You know this ain't ever going to end well for you. Stop now and you'll only have the rest of Slugterra hating you forever. Keep fighting me and you'll be beaten black and blue _and_ you'll have the rest of Slugterra hating you forever."

"So what?!" said Athos. " _He_ was one of the most hated men ever to live, but people were still afraid to speak his name!"

She fired again, and Perry knew all too well that she probably wouldn't be able to redirect it if she wasn't ready to, so she dodged aside with a quick spin on her toes and used her momentum to strengthen her arm as she threw the pipe in Athos' direction. When the brunette simply kicked it aside out of the air, Perry sighed in exasperation, slotted Brian into her own blaster and fired. The Arachnet spun a web which barreled into the scarred woman's chest and pinned her to the floor.

"And who would _he_ be then?" asked Perry. "You're acting like I actually have a clue what you're going on about!"

"He took care of us!" Athos screamed as she struggled to get free. "He took us in when nobody else would! And all we had to do was a little manual labour! It's more than our parents ever offered us!"

As she shouted, Perry found the rusted pipe.

"People like you are the reason he's gone!" Athos continued as the Highlander walked back over to the drill. "People like you are the reason my siblings and I had to come here in the first place! People like you are the reason we had NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!"

"And what the bloody hell do you mean by that?!" Perry demanded, pausing in her approach. "What, you think you owed him, do you? Whoever this shithead was that inspired you to do this, you think you owe him some kind of _favour?!_ "

"HE PRACTICALLY _RAISED_ US!" Athos screamed. "HE GAVE US FOOD! HE GAVE US CLOTHES! HE GAVE US A ROOF TO SLEEP UNDER! AND PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON HE'S _GONE!_ PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON WE'RE _HOMELESS! PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE THE REASON HE ISN'T HERE TO STOP US FROM_ ** _DYING!_** "

Perry had had enough.

She dropped the pipe, ignoring how it thudded on the cold concrete floor, and felt herself once again empowered by white-hot coals of rage burning in her body as she walked over to where Athos lay pinned to the floor, struggling uselessly against the sticky silk that bound her there.

Funnily enough, she stopped quite abruptly when she saw the blaster being aimed in her face, plus the angry little Infurnus that was scowling at her inside its barrel.

"How old were you when this bloke took you in?" asked Perry.

Athos seemed speechless.

" _How old?_ " Perry prompted, forcing herself with all her might not to shout.

She tightened her finger on the trigger as a warning.

"Fourteen, okay?" Athos told her. "I was fourteen. Porthos was twelve, Aramis was eleven and d'Artagnan was only seven."

"And is this bloke, whoever he is, the reason you're dying?" asked Perry. "Mind telling me _why?_ "

"I already said we worked for him!" Athos snapped. "We were old enough! All we had to do was pack up dark water and move it from place to place!"

"And in repayment, he treated you like human beings?" asked Perry.

"Yes!" cried Athos.

"So what the fuck do you owe him?"

After her question, Perry waited.

She shifted her finger off the trigger. After all, she didn't want to kill this woman.

But as seconds ticked by with no sound other than the rumbling and whining of the drill, Athos didn't reply.

"You don't know, do you?" asked Perry. "It's his work your trying to continue, isn't it? And you don't even know why?"

"Of course I know why!" Athos replied. "If we don't nobody else will!"

"Probably because nobody else wants to!" Perry pointed out, forcibly restraining herself from firing. "Drilling into the depths of hell for some magic bullshit that turns slugs evil, damages the land and makes people sick? Who the _fuck_ in their right minds would WANT that?!"

The hatred she felt at this moment was almost indescribable. The fact that anybody could have raised children in such a way that they would be dedicated to destruction at the cost of their own lives...

...it was something she could barely even think about. It just pissed her off too much.

"Your name's Athos, right?" she asked.

Athos nodded.

"I'm going to stop that machine, Athos," Perry told her. "I'm going to wedge that pipe into its gears and I'm going to bring the whole thing down. And you're going to lie there and watch me."

She turned away, anger once again fueling her steps, picked up the pipe and wrenched open an access panel in the side of the drill.

And was extremely annoyed to discover a strong presence of wiring and electrical boards and a distinct lack of gears, cogs or anything else she tended to associate with heavy machinery.

Nearby, Athos chuckled, her voice rasping and rough.

"You didn't honestly think a Blakk Industries machine would have such low tech, did you?" she asked. "By now it's on automatic. Even I wouldn't be able to turn it off! You'd need a pretty damn powerful bomb to disable it!"

A powerful bomb, eh?

Good. This had almost been boring and anticlimactic.

"Steve!" she said, and took out her Fandango. "Go find us an old mecha core. This place used to build 'em, so there should still be a few lying about."

She slotted him into her blaster and fired, and the pale Velocimorph sped away in search of the required part.

Perry took a few steps back, away from the drill until she was a safe distance, and pulled up Graeme again.

"I know you've been working a hell of a lot lately, Gray," she said, "especially for a newbie, but after this you can have a good long nap, okay? For now, I need you to make a nice deep dent in this son of a scuggan."

The one-legged Rammstone smiled and saluted, and Perry loaded him into her blaster and fired him at the machine. After hitting velocity, his fist plunged deep into the metal, which folded like paper under his rock-hard fist.

"What're you doing?" Athos demanded.

When Perry looked, she saw that the scarred woman had almost freed herself from Brian's web.

"Putting you out of business, what does it look like?" she said. "Ready to go, Mike? Make sure she's good and cozy."

The one-eyed Bubbaleone saluted and leaped into her blaster, and she fired him straight at Athos as she brushed off the last of the silk. The look on her face as she suddenly found herself encased in a bouncy pink prison was nothing short of priceless.

As Perry stood admiring her handiwork, Steve made his return. He came cruising in carrying a single still-glowing globe and dropped it into her hand.

"Nice work!" Perry made sure to give him the praise he'd earned as he landed on her shoulder in his protoform. "Looks like this one weren't used! 'Course, it'll probably be a bit unstable by now, so..."

As hard as her arms could manage, she shoved the core into the dent Graeme had made for her.

"Stop!" Athos shouted, her voice echoing off the walls of Mike's insides as Perry took cover behind a conveyor belt. "Stop it now! You're ruining EVERYTHING!"

"No," said Perry, and she loaded Greg into her blaster. "I'm _saving_ everything."

She took careful aim at the half-hidden glow and fired, then ducked behind the conveyor and clutched her hands over her head.

Even so, the resulting blast was strong enough to rock the ground she lay on and dislodge several abandoned parts to fall on her in a few rather painful places. She was glad she had her eyes closed tightly, because if she'd been dumb enough to try to watch the explosion, it was likely she would have been blinded. She could tell by the red glow behind her eyelids and the rush of hot wind that swept over her body.

Only after the deafening blast had dissipated and the light had faded did she dare to look back at her handiwork.

From where she knelt behind the conveyor belt, she could see Athos, still safely encased in Mike, staring at the shattered, charred remains of her machine, which crackled with small flickers of fire in an odd shade of green.

Perry stood up and dusted herself off.

Job done.

"Okay, Mike!" she called. "You can let her go now!"

Obedient and happy, the Bubbaleone returned to his protoform and the scarred brunette thumped to the floor.

"So then," Perry said as her faithful slug hopped back to her. "No more drills and no more ways to make 'em. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and yours have to live for yourselves now, rather than trying to avenge some bloke without even knowing why you're doing it. Don't you agree?"

She watched as Athos got to her unsteady feet.

"But I'm afraid you'll have to do that outside me North," Perry helpfully informed her. "I don't think anybody in these caverns will be happy to see you once I let 'em all know what you were doing. The folks in Firewall in particular might not be very pleased what with how many of 'em got sick thanks to you."

Athos didn't respond.

She reached up to her side - to the clasps which held a thick-looking reddish-black plate over her torso - and with two snaps, it was loose, and clanged loudly onto the ground.

Without it, she was worryingly skinny.

"What's the point?" she asked.

Something in Perry's mind told her she should ask her what she was doing, or at least move a little closer, but all she could do was stand in paralysed confusion and watch as the unarmed woman walked over to the burning wreckage of her machine.

"We don't have anything left," she explained. "This was our last chance. To go down strong and take the rest of this world with us. What else do we have without that?"

Perry felt a thrill of horror rush through her body as Athos picked up a sharp, jagged shard of metal.

"At least I'll know for sure you didn't get us!" she said, smiling at the Highland woman with teeth lined with blood.

"No, DON'T-" Perry shouted uselessly.

She had no chance to stop Athos as she plunged the shard into the softened, weak flesh of her chest, choking and smiling as it pierced her heart, and then she collapsed by the side of her beloved drill.

Perry stared in shock at the growing pool of blood.

Somehow, even though her feet suddenly seemed to weigh a thousand tonnes, she walked around the immobile conveyor and approached the now-lifeless Athos.

Of course she wasn't moving. Or breathing. It would have been stupid to expect otherwise. With her eyes closed and a gentle smile still locked in place on her face, she almost looked as though she could be sleeping.

But the truth was that she was gone.

Gone for good.

Her body had already stopped bleeding.

Fingers feeling numb, Perry took Keith off her belt.

"You think you could clean her up a little?" she asked.

The melanistic Aquabeek responded with a despondent nod and once his slinger had retreated to a safe distance, he was fired and squirted out a jet of water which washed the blood away from the lifeless Athos.

"Brian," Perry said, and loaded up her Arachnet, "we'll need some way of moving her."

She fired, and her loyal slug wove a thick sheet of webbing of the non-sticky variety which was large enough for an adult human to lay upon.

Still feeling numb, though a little relieved that at least she could manage this much, Perry pulled the sheet over to Athos' body and rolled her onto it.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I wish I could've done more for you."

Okay.

Time to stop thinking like that.

She didn't want to go there.

Not again.

She straightened up, rubbed her eyes of any intruding tears, took hold of the corners of the sheet and pulled the body of the scarred brunette along the floor to the exit.

* * *

"Ms McLinden!"

A pang of guilt shot through her heart as d'Artagnan came running down the corridor to her, their face written with worry.

"What happened?" they asked. "Did you talk to Athos? What did she..."

They trailed off when they caught sight of the look on Perry's face, and their gaze wandered to the sheet she dragged and the person who lay on it.

"Is..." they said weakly. "...is that..."

"I'm sorry," Perry told them as they approached their lifeless sister. "I thought if I just took the drill down, she'd find some other thing to do with her life."

D'Artagnan fell to their knees beside their sister's body.

"What did she do?" they cried. "Athos, what did you _DO?!_ "

Their tears streamed fast and heavy and their sobs were wretched and near-silent.

"I promise I did talk to her," said Perry. "I made sure she wouldn't get hurt when I blew up the drill. I guess she just..."

D'Artagnan gulped. It sounded painful.

"You tried," they said. "You tried, right?"

Perry nodded.

But before she could offer any more words of comfort, she heard the sound of a blaster charging up to fire.

She and d'Artagnan looked up the corridor and saw Aramis standing there, glaring at them both in rage and aiming a ghoul right at Perry's face.

"Aramis, NO!" cried d'Artagnan.

They jumped up and ran towards their elder sister, holding up their hands to dissuade her, but Aramis didn't even flinch as she pulled the trigger and a Grimmstone blasted out and smached the teen in the chest. They were punched right in the chest with a stomach-churning crunch and fell painfully to the ground next to the Highland woman who held his sister.

Still holding the sheet bearing Athos, Perry couldn't bear the thought of just dropping her. Plus at this range, and still holding onto her, the odds of her successfully dodging were pretty damn low.

Fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on perspective - she didn't need to.

A Slicksilver flew past the masked woman from behind, snatching her blaster clean out of her hand, and in her confusion she looked round just in time to see an extremely angry-looking man with slightly ragged earmuffs throwing a fist at her face. He hit her in the cheek hard enough to splinter the mask that covered her nose and mouth, and she fell to the floor struggling to breathe.

Perry stared in alarm at the man who had just saved her.

He was staring down at Aramis, trying to catch his breath, his eyes wide and empty like he was looking right through her. Somehow almost his entire midsection and his arms up to the elbow were covered in drying blood, some of which was even smeared on his cheeks.

"JJ...?" Perry said hestitantly.

He looked up at her, still wearing a face of horror.

"Blue..." he muttered.

On the floor, Aramis choked.

"No," Junjie said suddenly, and he crouched down beside her. "No, come on, keep it together, _no_."

There wasn't anything he could do. After a few more coughs, choking splutters and weak, rasping breaths, Aramis fell silent and still.

"No..." Junjie whispered weakly. "...not you too..."

"JJ," Perry said, "whose blood is that?"

When Junjie looked up at her, his face was a mixture of terror and desperate apology.

If he'd managed to successfully talk down that other woman - Porthos - then surely she'd be with him...

Oh.

"You couldn't talk her out of it, could you?" she asked.

"The cables broke," Junjie said softly. "I tried to save her but her arm came off in my hand... she was bleeding _so much_..."

Beside Perry, there was a sudden cough.

She quickly lowered the sheet to the ground and knelt down beside d'Artagnan, and rolled them onto their back as Junjie hurried over to join her.

"Hey," she said gently, and carefully cradled their head. "Look at me, okay?"

D'Artagnan looked up at her, their brown eyes wide and fearful.

"...Ms McLinden..." they choked.

"You're going to be fine," Perry told them, brushing their hair out of their eyes. "Don't look down, don't look at the sides, just look at me."

As they struggled to breathe, Junjie pulled away their scarf away from their neck, revealing the spreading patch of blood that was staining their slim chest.

"Your sisters are right here," said Perry, trying to keep her eyes on their face. "They're not going anywhere. We ain't going anywhere either. We're right here, okay?"

"...M-Miss..." d'Artagnan struggled to speak.

"Don't try to talk, love," Perry told them. "Just breathe."

Trying their best to obey, d'Artagnan reached into their pocket and pulled out the pot of Boon Doc salve.

"...thank you..." they sighed, and Junjie gently took hold of their hand. "...it doesn't hurt so much anymore... thank you..."

They blinked once, slowly, as though straining from the effort.

And then, with one final coarse and rasping breath, the slow rise and fall of their chest came to an end.

Resigned, Junjie rested their hand across their body, and Perry softly closed their lifeless eyes for the final time.


	12. Oh Danny Boy

" _Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling_

 _From glen to glen and down the mountainside..._ "

Neither slinger spoke a word as they laid the bodies in the little wooden boat, on the mounds of twigs and sticks that they had scavenged from around the island.

" _The summer's gone and all the roses falling_

 _'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide._ "

After covering the siblings with sheets woven by their Arachnets, they took hold of the sides of the boat and gently pushed it out onto the cold northern waters.

" _But come ye back when summer's in the meadow_

 _Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow..._ "

Together they stepped up, back onto the rocks, and watched as the four siblings were carried away from the island's shore.

" _'Tis I'll be here in sunshine and in shadow_

 _Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so._ "

As one, they slotted their respective Infurnus slugs into their respective blasters.

" _But when ye come and all the flowers are dying_

 _If I am dead, as dead I well may be..._ "

And as one, they fired.

" _Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying_

 _And kneel and sing an ave there for me._ "

Slug Fu was unneeded. Both of the blazing creatures knew exactly where they had to go and what they had to do.

" _And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me_

 _And all my grave shall warmer sweeter be..._ "

They breathed torrents of fire into the boat, setting its wood alight, and the burning vessel continued floating onward across the strait.

" _For ye shall bend and tell me that you love me..._ "

Their job done, the two slugs curved around and flew back to their slingers.

" _And I shall sleep in peace... until you come..._

 _...to me._ "

Aside from the gentle babbling of the water around the rocky shore, there was absolute silence as the trio watched the burning boat shrinking into the distance. Junjie carefully sat down on the rocks for a more comfortable vantage point.

"Thank you, Lenny," Perry said. "That was beautiful."

"It's nothing," Lenny replied. "It just... it just felt right. I mean, I know half the words in that song don't even make sense, but it... it seemed appropriate."

"You think you could fire Flare? Let those blokes know we want out?"

"...sure."

Lenny picked her way off the rocks and made for the jetty as Perry sat down next to Junjie, taking care not to slip off.

"I hate not being able to save people," she said. "It's my job as McLinden to preserve the lives of people in the North, and when I can't..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence.

"It's never pleasant," Junjie confirmed.

The salty water lapped playfully at their toes. Junjie was tempted to jump in and try to wash himself clean - both of the thoughts of what had happened on this island and the hot, sticky reminder that had near-blackened his clothes - but he knew he probably wouldn't be able to resurface.

"And I can't help wondering," Perry continued, "how different their lives could've been if they weren't taken in by that Blakk scuggan. If they'd been taken care of properly by someone who actually had an ounce of humanity about them. They could've..."

She trailed off, seemingly unable to end her sentence.

"They could have been happy," Junjie finished for her.

Perry nodded.

Up on the jetty, as the slingers continued watching the little burning boat, Lenny fired the Phosphoro slug into the air, and Flare dazzled bright enough to be seen all the way from the mainland.

"So Junjie," Perry said, "what're you going to do now?"

His attention was caught by the use of his name, as opposed to 'JJ' or 'lad'. When he looked to her, she was still watching the distant floating pyre with a strange, almost dreamy glint in her eyes.

"You'll be wanting to go home, right?" she said. "That little group of yours; you want to go back to them, don't you?"

She turned and looked to him.

"But there's room at our place," she suggested. "You can use the spare room. It used to be me mam's, but it's been empty since she died. Lenny uses it if she stays the night, but that doesn't happen as much as it used to a few years back, and I don't want it just getting dusty and unused. If you ain't needed in the East no more, you could always stay and lend me a hand or two."

A smile crept across her lips.

"Not like it'll ever get boring round here," she pointed out.

"I've only known you for three days," Junjie said, "and you're offering to let me live with you?"

"It's as good a chance as any for us to get to know each other better, right?" said Perry. "Though I ain't the best cook in the world, so when we ain't getting take-aways, we'll probably be popping down to the Harpers and sharing Mama Cathleen's lovely cooking."

"I know how to cook," said Junjie, "though due to my inexperience with Western food, it's mostly meals from my homeland."

"That'll work!" Perry said optimistically. "So what do you say?"

Junjie wasn't sure how to respond.

He looked back out across the water, where the flickers of the floating pyre were shrinking even further into the distance and the lights of the approaching ferry began to pierce through the fog. His fingers ran over the stains of Porthos' blood that were drying on his chest and stomach.

"It's a kind offer," he said. "It's one of the most generous things any person has ever willingly suggested to me."

"But?" said Perry. "There's a 'but' isn't there?"

"Yes," Junjie replied. "Trust me, Perry. Under any other circumstance, it's likely I would accept without any kind of hesitation, but my life in the West is already one that I'm satisfied with. My residence with Eli Shane and his comrades may have had a rocky start, but I'm comfortable there. I'm accepted. I'm _happy._ "

Standing at the end of the jetty, Lenny waved to the approaching ferry.

"And you ain't about to give that up to live with a lady you've only known for half a week," Perry said. "Aye. Aye, I understand. And I doubt what happened here was very encouraging, was it?"

Junjie smiled. He felt as though he had needed something to at least attempt to cheer him up, even if her comment had been a little distasteful.

Perry stood up and stretched her arms behind her head.

"Looks like our ride's here," she said. "At least let me go with you to the coast, 'kay? I'd do better knowing you made it that far in one piece."

"I'm fine with that," Junjie said, and he too rose to his feet.

* * *

The black sand still sparkled ever so faintly as the pair of mechas approached over the bank. They had made sure Lenny returned safely to her home - insisting that they didn't have time to stop for tea - after they had departed Highland Cavern and a majority of their journey since then had been made in silence, save for a few moments ago when Perry had requested a look at one of Junjie's slug canisters.

She stared at it, turning the glass this way and that, smiling faintly at Joo-Joo's confusion as he tried to keep his grip and stay inside.

"Don't think I'll ever get used to how this looks," she said, "with the blue and all. I'm way too used to having them white."

She passed it back to Junjie.

"Do you want these back?" he asked, and reached for the scarf and earmuffs he still wore.

"Nah, keep 'em," said Perry. "The colours never did wonders for me. On you, though..."

With a faint smile, Junjie tucked his scarf back into his collar.

"I won't forget this," Perry told him. "I won't forget you helping me. I don't even know if it'd be possible to thank you properly."

"It was no trouble," said Junjie. "Given the opportunity, I would gladly do it again."

This time, her smile was peaceful and calm.

"Good luck, Junjie," she said.

Junjie nodded.

"The same to you," he replied.

He galloped to the water's edge and transformed his mecha to jetski mode, and then he was cruising across the surface of the Cavern Sea and leaving the North far, far behind.

* * *

"So let me see if I've got this figured out," said Eli as he sat down on the couch. "There's not just the 99 Caverns that I and my family take care of, and there's not just Junjie's Eastern Caverns that he was the protector for. There's not just those two realms. There's _five_."

"Finally he gets it!" Trixie threw her arms up in the air.

"So you might think of ours as the 99 Caverns," Kord explained, "but to everyone else, we're just the West."

"And while Junjie presided over the East, the McLinden family is there for the North, you see?" Pronto said cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah, I see," Eli said. "But how does it work for the other realms? Is it like here, where it's passed down through the generations?"

"It is for the North," Kord told him. "They've been at it for centuries and judging by the lady they got now, I don't think they'll be slowing down anytime soon."

"It makes me wish Junjie would tell us a little more about how his home worked," Trixie sighed. "Makes me wish we'd got to see more of that place that wasn't a warzone."

"I believe in the swelteringly hot Central realms, it is a case of Master and Apprentice," Pronto declared, "while the South follows a process of popular vote. Pronto has often considered travelling there and ensuring his election as their new guardian."

"You sure about that?" asked Kord. "From what I've heard, it can get pretty nuts down there. They serve pies in soup, for crying out loud."

"But the people are so friendly!" Pronto argued. "I have no doubt that there is more than enough room in the Caverns Down Under for Pronto the Magnificent!"

"Ignoring the prospect of Pronto achieving that level of fame and glory," Eli said, "what are the guardians they've got at that moment like? You guys knew about that McLinden woman, so surely you've got at least some clue."

His enquiry was met with a trio of shrugs.

"All I've heard about the South guy they've got at the moment is that he's super friendly," Trixie explained. "And that's literally _it_. I think the Slugnet there must be permanently on the fritz."

"And I've heard that the lady they've got in the Central caverns at the moment is crazy tall even by their standards," said Kord, and he seemed almost frightened by the prospect. "She'd be taller than Blakk. Probably even taller than I am!"

For a few seconds, Eli was stunned by the prospect.

"That," he said after a moment, "sounds _terrifying_."

" _You_ think that sounds terrifying?" Pronto said angrily. "What about me?! I'm less than half the troll's height! This lady could probably squish me like a bug!"

"If she did," said Kord, "it would be a stink bug."

Eli couldn't avoid snickering at that remark, and neither could Trixie, while Kord smiled smugly and Pronto glowered at him in quiet rage.

There was a quiet knock at the front door. Nobody had noticed it opening.

"If this is a private conversation," the knocker said, "I would gladly come back later."

" _Junjie!_ " Eli vaulted the couch to run over and wrap his friend in a hug so massive they almost fell over.

"Whoa!" Junjie had to stagger backwards to avoid toppling. "Be careful, Eli; you might trick me into thinking you missed me."

"I did miss you, idiot!" Eli said as he pushed himself out of the hug and the rest of the group crowded round enthusiastically.

"What happened?!" Trixie demanded. "You have to tell us everything!"

"Did you manage to stop Blakk's goons?" asked Kord. "What was the McLinden lady like? You gotta tell us how much ass she kicked!"

"And what in the world possessed you to wear THOSE earmuffs with THESE shoes?!" Pronto practically shouted.

"Wait a sec," said Eli, face falling as he properly looked the returnee over. "Whose blood is that and how the heck did you get covered in it?"

Junjie waited until they had all stopped talking, and pulled the earmuffs he still wore from his head.

"Would it be possible for us to sit down first?" he requested, feeling the exhaustion making itself evident in his voice.

* * *

"So she accompanied me to the beach where we first landed, and I departed," Junjie finished. "The Cavern Sea was a challenge, of course, but it didn't take me as long to find my way back here as I had feared it would."

"That doesn't surprise me in the least," Pronto scoffed. "For a quote-unquote _hideout_ , this building is not what one would call inconspicuous."

"Sucks that you couldn't save those people," commented Kord. "Yeah, they worked for Blakk and all, but a life's a life, right?"

"Right," Junjie agreed.

"It was nice of you guys to give them a proper send-off," said Trixie. "I guess that lady wasn't a total delinquent after all."

"I can confirm that her heart is in the right place," Junjie said, "even if her actions are more than a little questionable."

"Yeah," said Eli, "and, uh..."

Junjie turned his attention to his student, who had worn a thoughtful expression for quite some time now.

"Be honest, Junjie," he said. "If it wasn't for me and the rest of us - if there was no Shane Gang - would you have taken her up on that offer? Would you have stayed behind with her in the North?"

"No," Junjie replied, quicker than even he had expected. "Even if it weren't for the awful memories I now possess regarding Fogfall Island, the Northern Caverns are far too... far too _cold_ for my liking. And besides, I think three and a half days with Perry McLinden is about as much as I could handle."

He stood up and stretched his back.

"If it's fine with all of you, I would like to take a shower," he said. "It isn't exactly fun being covered in another person's blood for several hours."

"Fair enough," said Eli, and he got up too. "I'll see if there's any of my dad's old clothes you can borrow."

"We are _definitely_ going to have to launder that equipment of yours," said Pronto. "I have never kept up with the bizarre and often laughable fashions of the modern day, but I doubt bloodstains will _ever_ be current or hip."

As conversation resumed, Junjie took to the bathroom and for perhaps the first time in days, he was able to see himself in the mirror.

Almost his entire midsection - from his chest to his hips, and his lower arms - was covered in blood. There were even smears of it on his face, and he saw that his eyes looked reddened and hollow. No wonder Perry had offered him the chance to stay with her; he looked _exhausted_.

He reached up and removed his pauldrons, which fell to the floor with heavy clunks slightly mufled by his fur, and pulled his feet out of his boots where they immediately began to chill on the cold floor. He removed his gauntlets and rested them down, not wanting to damage his blasters, and then looked at himself in the mirror again.

He could never get over how much smaller he looked without his armaments. It was true that he had more than a fair amount of muscle, but he still felt a little vulnerable without that kind of external protection.

With his cleaner hand, he rubbed his eye, and allowed himself a deep sigh of relief.

He was home now. Home and safe.

He was going to be fine.

There was a knock on the door.

"You decent, Junjie?" asked Eli.

"Yes," Junjie replied, thankful that he had taken his time.

The door swung open and Eli appeared, holding a couple of neatly-folded garments.

" _Whoa,_ " he said upon catching sight of his older friend. "Dude, I am _not_ used to seeing you without that armour of yours. You almost look kinda weird."

"Thank you," Junjie said dryly.

"Anyway, uh, here." Eli presented him with the clothes. "I found these in my dad's closet. They should keep you good 'til we can clean up your stuff."

"Are you totally sure you want me wearing your father's clothing?" asked Junjie.

Eli shrugged.

"Not like he's around to wear it," he commented.

And with that, he left.

Junjie couldn't avoid feeling pangs of worry for the boy as he took off the rest of his bloodstained clothes and pulled his hair from its clip. Sooner or later, if he hadn't already, it was likely Eli would have to face a situation not unlike one the Eastern man had experienced that morning. Given his profession - his position as protector of the 99 Caverns - it was inevitable, or at least worryingly likely.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to go through something like that until he was at least Perry's age.

Perry...

She had made it to her home safely. Junjie told himself that as he finished undressing and stepped into the shower. A woman like her was more than capable of finding her way from that beach to her home. He didn't have anything to worry about.

Aside from the potential psychological effects of watching 3 people die and not being able to prevent it.

But that was something he'd have to deal with himself, and considering how she was now half a world away, it wasn't like he'd be able to talk to her about it.

He put all those thoughts aside as he turned on the shower and hot water poured down onto his body, soaking his skin and saturating his hair and cleaning away all traces of blood that had still been clinging to his body. He pulled his fingers through his hair, making sure every last lock of black strands was well and truly sodden, and rubbed his face as hard as he dared.

It seemed like forever that he had felt so clean. All the memories of Fogfall Island and the days preceding it faded into the background as the heat and steam unlocked the tension that had built in his bones and muscles, making him feel more relaxed than he had in months.

He didn't even bother to use soap. Just standing here under the hot water had him feeling as though he had been resurrected.

Were it not for the threat of using up all the hot water, he could happily have stood there for the rest of the evening, but he only allowed himself a couple of minutes of showering before he switched the water off and reluctantly stepped out and started drying himself with a towel.

He noticed himself in the mirror again, and took a moment to examine his marred skin.

There were more scars covering his body than he would ever dare to count. Burns, animal scratches, stab wounds, punctures where broken bones had cut through his skin; you name it, he had it. Many were more faded than others, but still gave him a nasty ache every now and again, though he hadn't seemed to have noticed it over the past few days. It was amazing the kind of distraction a mission could bring.

It was remarkable how scar-free Perry had been, save for her right hand.

Hopefully Eli could be as lucky, whatever the future brought.

Once he considered himself dry enough, he pulled on the clothes Eli had supplied: a plain dark blue vest and black slacks that fitted him better than he had expected. He all but forgot about the clothes and equipment he had removed and emerged, staggering a little, from the bathroom.

He ignored the discussion that was going on - a debate over what should be ordered for dinner - found his way to the nearby hammock and was asleep within seconds of collapsing upon it.

* * *

When he awoke, he wasn't on the hammock anymore. Somebody had moved him from there to his bed, and even been considerate enough to cover him with the sheets.

He could see Joo-Joo sleeping soundly beside his pillow, and smiled and gave him an affectionate rub on the head.

Feeling more well-rested than he had in weeks, Junjie sat up and swung his legs off the bed, and quickly prevented himself from falling over in dizziness as his blood started moving again. He stood up and stretched, listening as his bones clicked into place, and left his room even though he still felt a little bleary.

"Hey."

And was rather surprised to find Eli, up and awake, sitting on the couch rubbing over Junjie's slug canisters with a cloth.

"Eli," said Junjie. "You're up early."

"Yeah, I know," Eli responded. "Got woken up by a nightmare at about 6 and I knew I didn't want to go back to sleep if it meant running the risk of more of _that_ , so I figured I might make a bit of headway. You know you left all your stuff on the bathroom floor, right?"

"Oh," Junjie said as he remembered. "Sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Eli said as Junjie made his way down to the couch. "You were totally worn out by the time you got back. I'm surprised you didn't drop down asleep the moment you got through the door!"

Junjie smiled as he made a beeline for the kitchen, wondering if there were any leftovers from last night that he could steal.

"Oh, hey, before I forget..."

He looked back to see Eli holding up a small, tightly folded wad of paper.

"I found this tucked into one of the tubes," he explained. "I don't know what it is but I figured you might want to look at it first."

Curious, Junjie took the paper and unfolded it, and was both surprised and confused to see a series of eight numbers written there in rough pen.

"Do you know what this might mean?" he asked, showing it to his friend.

Eli leaned over and examined it.

"If I didn't know any better," he said, smiling coyly, "I'd say it was a phone number. Made a friend while you were over there, did you?"

A phone number?

But how would that be...?

No, when Perry had asked to look at his tubes, she must've... but how did she get the paper? When did she write it down? When they had dropped off Lenny? That would make the most sense...

"Do we have a phone?" asked Junjie, feeling a little foolish for still not knowing for sure.

"Under the stairs," said Eli, and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

Junjie practically power-walked over to the indicated area and snatched up the receiver, and started pressing in the buttons.

"7..." he muttered as he did so, "6... 2... 4... 1... 8... 2... 3."

He held the receiver to his ear and waited.

He could hear the phone ringing.

Was anyone there to pick it up?

Then he heard a click.

"Aye?"

It was her.

"Is that you, Blue?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Crivens, you sure as smeg took your time!" Perry exclaimed. "I was beginning to think you'd crashed and drowned!"

"No, I made it safely home," Junjie clarified. "Eli is sitting right behind me."

He held out the receiver.

"Hello!" Eli called.

"You see?" Junjie said cheerfully once he'd brought the phone back to his ear.

"Well, obviously _not_ , since this ain't a video call," Perry replied, "but it's good to know you made it back safe. Didn't have any trouble, did you?"

"Thankfully, no," said Junjie. "No cannon fire halting my progress this time and I think the blood covering my clothes put off any bandits who may have considered attacking me."

"I meant to apologise for that," said Perry. "I wouldn't have brought you with me to Fogfall Island if it meant you having to go through what you did."

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Junjie told her. "It was worth it to give you help. Besides, I've had worse."

"You what?!" cried Perry. "Crivens, I'll happily let me tea go cold if it means hearing what's worse!"

"I'd... I'd rather not," said Junjie. "Not right now. I only woke up a few minutes ago. Not to offend you by any means, but our mission over the past few days was exhausting."

"Aye, I know how you feel," said Perry. "Me socks are still drying from spray that got into 'em. Dead Man's Dardanelles was trying to follow me home."

Junjie smiled. All the things she could have mentioned and it was her socks.

"In any case," said Perry, "I'm betting you got a good welcome once you were home, right?"

He sat down and made himself comfortable against the wall.

"Well," he began, "when I got back..."


End file.
